1981 Cookstown District Council election

Elections to Cookstown 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
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="" | SDLP !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | UUP !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | DUP !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | UUUP !colspan=2 bgcolor="white"| Others
 * - class="unsortable" align="center"
 * align="left"|Area A
 * bgcolor="#99FF66"|25.8
 * bgcolor="#99FF66"|1
 * 21.5
 * 1
 * 21.8
 * 1
 * 9.4
 * 1
 * 21.5
 * 1
 * 5
 * align="left"|Area B
 * bgcolor="#99FF66"|28.2
 * bgcolor="#99FF66"|2
 * 22.6
 * 2
 * 23.5
 * 1
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 25.7
 * 1
 * 6
 * align="left"|Area C
 * bgcolor="#99FF66"|41.4
 * bgcolor="#99FF66"|2
 * 30.7
 * 1
 * 27.9
 * 1
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 4
 * - class="unsortable" class="sortbottom" style="background:#C9C9C9"
 * align="left"| Total
 * 31.4
 * 5
 * 24.7
 * 4
 * 24.3
 * 3
 * 2.9
 * 3
 * 16.7
 * 2
 * 15
 * }
 * 2
 * 15
 * }
 * }

Area A
1977: 1 x SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x UUUP, 1 x Independent Nationalist

1981: 1 x SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x UUUP, 1 x Independent Nationalist

1977-1981 Change: No change

Area B
1977: 2 x SDLP, 2 x UUUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Independent Republican

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

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

Area C
1977: 2 x SDLP, 2 x UUP

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

1977-1981 Change: DUP gain from UUP