1981 Newtownabbey Borough Council election

Elections to Newtownabbey 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 21 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

!rowspan=2|Total Cllrs

!colspan=2 bgcolor="" | UUP !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | DUP !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | Alliance !colspan=2 bgcolor="white"| Others
 * - class="unsortable" align="center"
 * align="left"|Area A
 * bgcolor="#40BFF5"|45.3
 * bgcolor="#40BFF5"|2
 * 32.2
 * 2
 * 10.8
 * 0
 * 11.7
 * 1
 * 5
 * align="left"|Area B
 * bgcolor="#40BFF5"|37.0
 * bgcolor="#40BFF5"|2
 * 34.8
 * 1
 * 11.6
 * 1
 * 16.6
 * 1
 * 6
 * align="left"|Area C
 * bgcolor="#40BFF5"|34.2
 * bgcolor="#40BFF5"|2
 * 33.7
 * 1
 * 19.1
 * 1
 * 13.0
 * 0
 * 5
 * align="left"|Area D
 * 25.2
 * 2
 * bgcolor="#D46A4C"|37.3
 * bgcolor="#D46A4C"|1
 * 17.5
 * 1
 * 20.0
 * 1
 * 5
 * - class="unsortable" class="sortbottom" style="background:#C9C9C9"
 * align="left"| Total
 * 34.5
 * 9
 * 34.7
 * 5
 * 15.6
 * 3
 * 15.2
 * 4
 * 21
 * }
 * 3
 * 15.2
 * 4
 * 21
 * }
 * }

Area A
1977: 3 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Alliance

1981: 2 x UUP, 2 x DUP, 1 x Independent Unionist

1977-1981 Change: DUP and Independent Unionist gain from UUP and Alliance

Area B
1977: 2 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Newtownabbey Labour, 1 x Loyalist

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

1977-1981 Change: Loyalist joins UUP

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

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

1977-1981 Change: UUP and Independent Unionist gain from Alliance and UPNI

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

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

1977-1981 Change: Independent Unionist gain from Alliance