1981 Belfast City Council election

Elections to Belfast City Council were held on 20 May 1981 on the same day as the other Northern Irish local government elections. The election used nine district electoral areas to elect a total of 51 councillors, most representing the more heavily populated north and west.

The DUP became the largest party, overtaking the UUP, while Grace Bannister from the UUP became the first female Lord Mayor.

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

! %

!Cllrs

! %

!Cllrs

! %

!Cllrs

! %

!Cllrs

! %

!Cllrs

!rowspan=2|Total Cllrs

!colspan=2 bgcolor="" | DUP !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | UUP !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | Alliance !colspan=2 bgcolor=""| SDLP !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | PD !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | IRSP !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | UDP !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | UPNI !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | PUP !colspan=2 bgcolor="white"| Others
 * - class="unsortable" align="center"
 * align="left"|Area A
 * bgcolor="#D46A4C"|39.3
 * bgcolor="#D46A4C"|3
 * 33.5
 * 3
 * 12.1
 * 1
 * 9.2
 * 0
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 5.9
 * 0
 * 7
 * align="left"|Area B
 * bgcolor="#D46A4C"|33.5
 * bgcolor="#D46A4C"|2
 * 26.8
 * 2
 * 23.0
 * 2
 * 1.1
 * 0
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 2.0
 * 0
 * 11.0
 * 1
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 2.6
 * 0
 * 7
 * align="left"|Area C
 * 21.6
 * 2
 * bgcolor="40BFF5"|33.6
 * bgcolor="40BFF5"|2
 * 28.6
 * 2
 * 9.4
 * 0
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 3.3
 * 0
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 3.3
 * 0
 * 6
 * align="left"|Area D
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 3.3
 * 0
 * 5.3
 * 0
 * bgcolor="#99FF66"|44.8
 * bgcolor="#99FF66"|3
 * 17.0
 * 1
 * 10.9
 * 1
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 18.7
 * 1
 * 6
 * align="left"|Area E
 * bgcolor="#D46A4C"|35.1
 * bgcolor="#D46A4C"|2
 * 22.1
 * 2
 * 5.8
 * 0
 * 3.5
 * 0
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 6.5
 * 0
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 11.1
 * 0
 * 15.9
 * 1
 * 6
 * align="left"|Area F
 * bgcolor="#D46A4C"|26.4
 * bgcolor="#D46A4C"|2
 * 18.4
 * 1
 * 10.0
 * 1
 * 20.8
 * 1
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 15.2
 * 1
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 9.3
 * 0
 * 6
 * align="left"|Area G
 * bgcolor="#D46A4C"|24.8
 * bgcolor="#D46A4C"|2
 * 17.7
 * 1
 * 3.1
 * 0
 * 7.5
 * 0
 * 19.6
 * 1
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 14.3
 * 1
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 13.0
 * 0
 * 6
 * align="left"|Area H
 * 21.7
 * 2
 * bgcolor="40BFF5"|27.4
 * bgcolor="40BFF5"|2
 * 11.5
 * 1
 * 19.6
 * 1
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 2.5
 * 0
 * 17.3
 * 1
 * 7
 * - class="unsortable" class="sortbottom" style="background:#C9C9C9"
 * align="left"| Total
 * 25.8
 * 15
 * 23.7
 * 13
 * 13.2
 * 7
 * 14.1
 * 6
 * 3.7
 * 2
 * 2.6
 * 2
 * 2.3
 * 1
 * 2.2
 * 1
 * 1.9
 * 1
 * 10.5
 * 3
 * 51
 * }
 * 1
 * 2.2
 * 1
 * 1.9
 * 1
 * 10.5
 * 3
 * 51
 * }
 * }

Area A
1977: 2 x UUP, 2 x DUP, 2 x Alliance, 1 x SDLP

1981: 3 x DUP, 3 x UUP, 1 x Alliance

1977-1981 Change: DUP and UUP gain from Alliance and SDLP

Area B
1977: 3 x UUP, 2 x Alliance, 1 x DUP, 1 x UPNI

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

1977-1981 Change: DUP gain from UUP

Area C
1977: 3 x Alliance, 2 x UUP, 1 x UPNI

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

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

Area D
1977: 4 x SDLP, 1 x Republican Clubs, 1 x Alliance

1981: 3 x SDLP, 1 x People's Democracy, 1 x IRSP, 1 x Independent Socialist

1977-1981 Change: People's Democracy and IRSP gain from Republican Clubs and Alliance, Independent Socialist leaves SDLP

Area E
1977: 2 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Independent, 1 x Independent Unionist

1981: 2 x DUP, 2 x UUP, 1 x PUP, 1 x Anti H-Block

1977-1981 Change: DUP and Anti H-Block gain from Alliance and Independent, Independent Unionist joins PUP

Area F
1977: 2 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Republican Clubs, 1 x Alliance

1981: 2 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x IRSP, 1 x Alliance

1977-1981 Change: DUP and IRSP gain from UUP and Republican Clubs

Area G
1977: 2 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Republican Clubs, 1 x Alliance

1981: 2 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x IRSP, 1 x UDP

1977-1981 Change: DUP, PD and UDP gain from UUP, Republican Clubs and Alliance

Area H
1977: 2 x UUP, 2 x Alliance, 1 x SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Independent Unionist

1981: 2 x UUP, 2 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Independent Unionist

1977-1981 Change: DUP gain from Alliance