1981 Lisburn Borough Council election

Elections to Lisburn Borough Council were held on 20 May 1981 on the same day as the other Northern Irish local government elections. The election used five district electoral areas to elect a total of 23 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

!rowspan=2|Total Cllrs

!colspan=2 bgcolor="" | DUP !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | UUP !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | Alliance !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | SDLP !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | UUUP !colspan=2 bgcolor="white"| Others
 * - class="unsortable" align="center"
 * align="left"|Area A
 * 30.2
 * 1
 * bgcolor="40BFF5"|51.8
 * bgcolor="40BFF5"|2
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 18.0
 * 1
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 4
 * align="left"|Area B
 * bgcolor="#D46A4C"|43.7
 * bgcolor="#D46A4C"|3
 * 39.7
 * 2
 * 10.6
 * 0
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 6.0
 * 0
 * 5
 * align="left"|Area C
 * bgcolor="#D46A4C"|54.3
 * bgcolor="#D46A4C"|3
 * 20.6
 * 1
 * 11.9
 * 1
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 5.9
 * 0
 * 7.3
 * 0
 * 5
 * align="left"|Area D
 * bgcolor="#D46A4C"|49.6
 * bgcolor="#D46A4C"|2
 * 27.3
 * 2
 * 18.5
 * 1
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 1.8
 * 0
 * 2.8
 * 0
 * 5
 * align="left"|Area E
 * bgcolor="#D46A4C"|30.0
 * bgcolor="#D46A4C"|1
 * 28.7
 * 1
 * 15.3
 * 0
 * 15.9
 * 1
 * 1.6
 * 1
 * 8.5
 * 0
 * 4
 * - class="unsortable" class="sortbottom" style="background:#C9C9C9"
 * align="left"| Total
 * 42.7
 * 10
 * 32.2
 * 8
 * 12.2
 * 2
 * 5.9
 * 2
 * 2.0
 * 1
 * 5.0
 * 0
 * 23
 * }
 * 2.0
 * 1
 * 5.0
 * 0
 * 23
 * }
 * }

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

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

1977-1981 Change: No change

Area B
1977: 3 x UUP, 2 x DUP

1981: 3 x DUP, 2 x UUP

1977-1981 Change: DUP gain from UUP

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

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

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

Area D
1977: 2 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x UPNI

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

1977-1981 Change: DUP gain from UPNI

Area E
1977: 1 x Alliance, 1 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP

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

1977-1981 Change: UUUP gain from Alliance