1981 Castlereagh Borough Council election

Elections to Castlereagh 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 19 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

!rowspan=2|Total Cllrs

!colspan=2 bgcolor="" | DUP !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | UUP !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | Alliance !colspan=2 bgcolor="white"| Others
 * - class="unsortable" align="center"
 * align="left"|Area A
 * bgcolor="#D46A4C"|33.4
 * bgcolor="#D46A4C"|2
 * 28.8
 * 2
 * 20.9
 * 1
 * 16.9
 * 1
 * 6
 * align="left"|Area B
 * bgcolor="#D46A4C"|51.9
 * bgcolor="#D46A4C"|4
 * 24.5
 * 2
 * 19.9
 * 2
 * 3.7
 * 0
 * 8
 * align="left"|Area C
 * bgcolor="#D46A4C"|55.3
 * bgcolor="#D46A4C"|3
 * 21.3
 * 1
 * 23.4
 * 1
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 5
 * - class="unsortable" class="sortbottom" style="background:#C9C9C9"
 * align="left"| Total
 * 44.8
 * 9
 * 25.2
 * 5
 * 21.1
 * 4
 * 8.9
 * 1
 * 19
 * }
 * 1
 * 19
 * }
 * }

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

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

1977-1981 Change: DUP gain from Alliance

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

1981: 4 x DUP, 2 x UUP, 2 x Alliance

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

Area C
1977: 2 x Alliance, 2 x UUP, 1 x DUP

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

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