1981 Ballymoney Borough Council election

Elections to Ballymoney Borough 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 16 councillors.

Election results
Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary
!rowspan=2 align="left"|Ward ! %
 * - class="unsortable" align="centre"

!Cllrs

! %

!Cllrs

! %

!Cllrs

! %

!Cllrs

! %

!Cllrs

!rowspan=2|Total Cllrs

!colspan=2 bgcolor="" | DUP !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | UUP !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | SDLP !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | Alliance !colspan=2 bgcolor="white"| Others
 * - class="unsortable" align="center"
 * align="left"|Area A
 * bgcolor="#D46A4C"|53.8
 * bgcolor="#D46A4C"|2
 * 27.2
 * 1
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 19.0
 * 1
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 4
 * align="left"|Area B
 * bgcolor="#D46A4C"|31.6
 * bgcolor="#D46A4C"|3
 * 30.3
 * 2
 * 21.3
 * 2
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 16.8
 * 1
 * 8
 * align="left"|Area C
 * bgcolor="#D46A4C"|42.3
 * bgcolor="#D46A4C"|2
 * 10.8
 * 0
 * 11.6
 * 0
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 35.3
 * 2
 * 4
 * - class="unsortable" class="sortbottom" style="background:#C9C9C9"
 * align="left"| Total
 * 40.3
 * 7
 * 24.0
 * 3
 * 9.9
 * 2
 * 8.1
 * 1
 * 17.7
 * 3
 * 16
 * }
 * 17.7
 * 3
 * 16
 * }
 * }

Area A
1977: 2 x DUP, 2 x UUP

1981: 2 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Alliance

1977-1981 Change: Alliance gain from UUP

Area B
1977: 3 x UUP, 3 x SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Independent

1981: 3 x DUP, 2 x UUP, 2 x SDLP, 1 x Independent

1977-1981 Change: DUP (two seats) gain from UUP and SDLP

Area C
1977: 2 x Independent, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Independent Unionist

1981: 2 x DUP, 2 x Independent

1977-1981 Change: DUP (two seats) gain from Alliance and Independent Unionist