1981 Coleraine Borough Council election

Elections to Coleraine 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 20 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="" | UUP !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | DUP !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | SDLP !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | Alliance !colspan=2 bgcolor="white"| Others
 * - class="unsortable" align="center"
 * align="left"|Area A
 * bgcolor="40BFF5"|34.2
 * bgcolor="40BFF5"|2
 * 26.1
 * 2
 * 28.0
 * 2
 * 1.7
 * 0
 * 10.0
 * 0
 * 6
 * align="left"|Area B
 * bgcolor="40BFF5"|43.4
 * bgcolor="40BFF5"|4
 * 34.2
 * 2
 * 10.0
 * 0
 * 11.4
 * 1
 * 1.0
 * 0
 * 7
 * align="left"|Area C
 * 27.4
 * 2
 * bgcolor="#D46A4C"|38.1
 * bgcolor="#D46A4C"|2
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 6.3
 * 0
 * 28.2
 * 3
 * 7
 * - class="unsortable" class="sortbottom" style="background:#C9C9C9"
 * align="left"| Total
 * 34.2
 * 8
 * 33.2
 * 6
 * 11.7
 * 2
 * 6.3
 * 1
 * 14.6
 * 3
 * 20
 * }
 * 14.6
 * 3
 * 20
 * }
 * }

Area A
1977: 3 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Independent Unionist

1981: 2 x UUP, 2 x DUP, 2 x SDLP

1977-1981 Change: DUP and SDLP gain from UUP and Independent Unionist

Area B
1977: 4 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Independent Unionist

1981: 4 x UUP, 2 x DUP, 1 x Alliance

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

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

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

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