1981 Strabane District Council election

Main article: Northern Ireland local elections, 1981

1981 Strabane District Council election

20 May 1981 (1981-05-20)
All 15 seats to Strabane District Council 8 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Party Social Democratic and Labour Democratic Unionist Independent Nationalist Seats won 4 4 4 Seat change 1 2 1   Fourth party   Party Ulster Unionist Seats won 3 Seat change 2

Elections to Strabane District Council were held on 20 May 1981 on the same day as the other Northern Irish local government elections. The election used three district electoral areas to elect a total of 15 councillors.

Election results

Strabane District Council Election Result 1981

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Independent Nationalist	4	1	0	1	26.7	26.1	4,459	11.2
	Democratic Unionist	4	2	0	2	26.7	25.1	4,287	11.5
	Social Democratic and Labour	4	0	1	1	26.7	22.8	3,889	7.7
	Ulster Unionist	3	0	2	1	20.0	20.7	3,545	8.8
	Independent	0	0	0	0	0.0	1.9	326	3.0
	Anti H-Block	0	0	0	0	0.0	1.7	296	New
	Alliance	0	0	0	0	0.0	1.7	288	1.3

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

Results of the Strabane District Council election, 1981
by district

Ward	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	Total Cllrs
	DUP		SDLP		UUP		Others
Area A	35.4	2	17.2	1	25.2	1	22.2	1	5
Area B	30.9	2	24.3	1	27.3	1	17.5	1	5
Area C	7.0	0	27.3	2	8.5	1	57.2	2	5
Total	25.1	4	22.8	4	20.7	3	31.4	4	15

Districts results

Area A

1977: 2 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Independent Nationalist
1981: 2 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Independent Nationalist
1977-1981 Change: DUP gain from UUP

Strabane Area A - 5 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4
	Independent Nationalist	Denis McCrory*	22.11%	1,320
	Democratic Unionist	Thomas Kerrigan	20.46%	1,221
	Social Democratic and Labour	Mary McCrea	17.24%	1,029
	Democratic Unionist	Robert Anderson	9.72%	580	581	602.6	1,070.22
	Ulster Unionist	Edward Turner*	13.94%	832	882	892.26	908.42
	Ulster Unionist	Ernest Young*	11.26%	672	738	747.36	754.62
	Democratic Unionist	David Baird	5.28%	315	321	497.22
Electorate: 7,833   Valid: 5,969 (76.20%)   Spoilt: 193   Quota: 995   Turnout: 6,162 (78.67%)

Area B

1977: 2 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Independent Nationalist
1981: 2 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Independent Nationalist
1977-1981 Change: DUP gain from UUP

Strabane Area B - 5 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2
	Social Democratic and Labour	John Gallagher*	18.92%	1,101
	Independent Nationalist	Francis McConnell*	17.44%	1,015
	Ulster Unionist	Mary Britton*	16.91%	984
	Democratic Unionist	Samuel Rogers*	16.72%	973
	Democratic Unionist	George McIntyre*	14.21%	827	832
	Ulster Unionist	Henry Henderson*	10.43%	607	624
	Social Democratic and Labour	Mary McAleer	5.38%	313
Electorate: 7,050   Valid: 5,820 (82.55%)   Spoilt: 177   Quota: 971   Turnout: 5,997 (85.06%)

Area C

1977: 3 x SDLP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Independent Nationalist
1981: 2 x SDLP, 2 x Independent Nationalist, 1 x UUP
1977-1981 Change: Independent Nationalist gain from SDLP

Strabane Area C - 5 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
	Independent Nationalist	James O'Kane	27.52%	1,459
	Independent Nationalist	John O'Kane*	7.89%	418	818.98	826.8	836.62	857.54	890.18
	Social Democratic and Labour	Paul O'Hare	11.32%	600	659.45	666.27	670.27	682.91	688.32	836.83	902.83
	Social Democratic and Labour	William Flanagan	10.90%	578	599.73	601.14	605.14	610.55	619.78	727.29	790.16	807.96	886.96
	Ulster Unionist	Robert Fleming*	8.49%	450	450.82	451.82	467.23	472.23	473.23	473.23	475.64	475.94	555.35	562.35
	Democratic Unionist	Desmond Monteith	7.00%	371	371.41	371.41	377.41	385.41	394.41	394.41	394.41	394.41	397.41	399.41
	Anti H-Block	William Gallagher	5.58%	296	305.84	313.84	313.84	315.84	331.25	333.25	382.89	385.49	385.49
	Alliance	Patrick Wallace	5.43%	288	304.4	308.81	319.22	339.86	343.86	349.09	370.14	374.04
	Independent Nationalist	John McCrory	4.66%	247	264.63	272.04	276.04	289.09	303.91	312.32
	Social Democratic and Labour	Jane O'Donnell	5.06%	268	280.3	280.71	281.71	288.94	294.94
	Independent	Michael Dunne	2.17%	115	119.92	123.92	131.92	131.92
	Independent	David Fleming	1.81%	96	108.71	109.71	110.71
	Independent	William Crichton	1.36%	72	73.64	73.64
	Independent	John Tracey	0.81%	43	46.28
Electorate: 7,630   Valid: 5,301 (69.48%)   Spoilt: 146   Quota: 884   Turnout: 5,447 (71.39%)