1981 Londonderry City Council election

Elections to Londonderry City 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 27 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="" | DUP !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | UUP !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | IIP !colspan=2 bgcolor="white"| Others
 * - class="unsortable" align="center"
 * align="left"|Area A
 * bgcolor="#99FF66"|42.4
 * bgcolor="#99FF66"|3
 * 27.2
 * 2
 * 24.2
 * 1
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 6.2
 * 0
 * 6
 * align="left"|Area B
 * 20.6
 * 1
 * bgcolor="#D46A4C"|36.3
 * bgcolor="#D46A4C"|2
 * 28.1
 * 2
 * 5.3
 * 0
 * 9.7
 * 0
 * 5
 * align="left"|Area C
 * bgcolor="#99FF66"|53.0
 * bgcolor="#99FF66"|3
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 26.8
 * 2
 * 20.2
 * 0
 * 5
 * align="left"|Area D
 * bgcolor="#99FF66"|48.2
 * bgcolor="#99FF66"|3
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 15.5
 * 1
 * 26.5
 * 1
 * 9.8
 * 0
 * 5
 * align="left"|Area E
 * bgcolor="#99FF66"|49.3
 * bgcolor="#99FF66"|4
 * 10.5
 * 1
 * 6.2
 * 0
 * 22.3
 * 1
 * 11.7
 * 0
 * 5
 * - class="unsortable" class="sortbottom" style="background:#C9C9C9"
 * align="left"| Total
 * 41.3
 * 14
 * 18.6
 * 5
 * 15.6
 * 4
 * 13.7
 * 4
 * 10.8
 * 0
 * 27
 * }
 * 4
 * 10.8
 * 0
 * 27
 * }
 * }

Area A
1977: 3 x SDLP, 2 x UUP, 1 x DUP

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

1977-1981 Change: DUP gain from UUP

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

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

1977-1981 Change: DUP gain from Alliance

Area C
1977: 3 x SDLP, 2 x Nationalist

1981: 3 x SDLP, 2 x IIP

1977-1981 Change: Nationalists (two seats) join IIP

Area D
1977: 3 x SDLP, 1 x Nationalist, 1 x UUP

1981: 3 x SDLP, 1 x IIP, 1 x DUP

1977-1981 Change: DUP gain from UUP, Nationalist joins IIP

Area E
1977: 3 x SDLP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Nationalist

1981: 4 x SDLP, 1 x UUP, 1 x IIP

1977-1981 Change: SDLP gain from Alliance, Nationalist joins IIP