1981 Magherafelt District Council election

Elections to Magherafelt 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

! %

!Cllrs

!rowspan=2|Total Cllrs

!colspan=2 bgcolor="" | SDLP !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | DUP !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | UUP !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | IIP !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | UUUP !colspan=2 bgcolor="white"| Others
 * - class="unsortable" align="center"
 * align="left"|Area A
 * bgcolor="#99FF66"|39.1
 * bgcolor="#99FF66"|3
 * 13.0
 * 1
 * 9.0
 * 0
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 38.9
 * 1
 * 5
 * align="left"|Area B
 * 10.4
 * 1
 * 20.3
 * 1
 * 11.9
 * 1
 * bgcolor=#32CD32|33.8
 * bgcolor=#32CD32|1
 * 18.4
 * 1
 * 5.2
 * 0
 * 5
 * align="left"|Area C
 * 25.8
 * 1
 * bgcolor="#D46A4C"|37.7
 * bgcolor="#D46A4C"|2
 * 9.0
 * 1
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 4.6
 * 0
 * 22.9
 * 1
 * 5
 * - class="unsortable" class="sortbottom" style="background:#C9C9C9"
 * align="left"| Total
 * 25.6
 * 5
 * 24.0
 * 4
 * 9.9
 * 2
 * 10.4
 * 1
 * 7.3
 * 1
 * 22.8
 * 2
 * 15
 * }
 * 22.8
 * 2
 * 15
 * }
 * }

Area A
1977: 2 x SDLP, 2 x UUP, 1 x Republican Clubs

1981: 3 x SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Independent Republican

1977-1981 Change: SDLP, DUP and Independent Republican gain from UUP (two seats) and Republican Clubs

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

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

1977-1981 Change: IIP gain from Independent Nationalist

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

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

1977-1981 Change: Independent Republican gain from SDLP