1981 Craigavon Borough Council election

Elections to Craigavon Borough Council were held on 20 May 1981 on the same day as the other Northern Irish local government elections. The election used four district electoral areas to elect a total of 25 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

! %

!Cllrs

! %

!Cllrs

!rowspan=2|Total Cllrs

!colspan=2 bgcolor="" | UUP !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | DUP !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | SDLP !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | RC !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | Alliance !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | UUUP !colspan=2 bgcolor="white"| Others
 * - class="unsortable" align="center"
 * align="left"|Area A
 * 14.8
 * 1
 * 12.4
 * 0
 * bgcolor="#99FF66"|49.9
 * bgcolor="#99FF66"|3
 * 19.8
 * 1
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 3.1
 * 0
 * 5
 * align="left"|Area B
 * bgcolor="40BFF5"|36.5
 * bgcolor="40BFF5"|3
 * 30.7
 * 2
 * 16.5
 * 1
 * 6.7
 * 0
 * 9.5
 * 1
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 7
 * align="left"|Area C
 * bgcolor="40BFF5"|26.5
 * bgcolor="40BFF5"|2
 * 22.0
 * 2
 * 19.0
 * 1
 * 14.2
 * 1
 * 6.3
 * 0
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 12.0
 * 0
 * 6
 * align="left"|Area D
 * bgcolor="40BFF5"|40.6
 * bgcolor="40BFF5"|3
 * 38.6
 * 3
 * 6.9
 * 0
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 13.8
 * 1
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 7
 * - class="unsortable" class="sortbottom" style="background:#C9C9C9"
 * align="left"| Total
 * 30.8
 * 9
 * 27.1
 * 7
 * 20.8
 * 5
 * 9.4
 * 2
 * 4.1
 * 1
 * 3.9
 * 1
 * 3.9
 * 0
 * 25
 * }
 * 3.9
 * 0
 * 25
 * }
 * }

Area A
1977: 3 x SDLP, 1 x Republican Clubs, 1 x UUP

1981: 3 x SDLP, 1 x Republican Clubs, 1 x UUP

1977-1981 Change: No change

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

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

1977-1981 Change: DUP gain from Alliance

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

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

1977-1981 Change: DUP and Republican Clubs gain from SDLP and Alliance

Area D
1977: 4 x UUP, 2 x DUP, 1 x UUUP

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

1977-1981 Change: DUP gain from UUP