1981 North Down Borough Council election

Elections to North Down 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 20 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="" | Alliance !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | DUP !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | UUP !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | UPUP !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | UPNI !colspan=2 bgcolor="white"| Others
 * - class="unsortable" align="center"
 * align="left"|Area A
 * bgcolor="#F6CB2F"|26.4
 * bgcolor="#F6CB2F"|1
 * 19.3
 * 1
 * 18.7
 * 1
 * 7.6
 * 0
 * 10.3
 * 1
 * 17.7
 * 1
 * 5
 * align="left"|Area B
 * 15.0
 * 1
 * bgcolor="#D46A4C"|36.7
 * bgcolor="#D46A4C"|2
 * 11.3
 * 0
 * 29.1
 * 2
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 7.9
 * 0
 * 5
 * align="left"|Area C
 * bgcolor="#F6CB2F"|31.7
 * bgcolor="#F6CB2F"|2
 * 21.3
 * 1
 * 23.8
 * 1
 * 23.2
 * 1
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 5
 * align="left"|Area D
 * 30.1
 * 2
 * 15.3
 * 1
 * bgcolor="40BFF5"|41.1
 * bgcolor="40BFF5"|2
 * 9.9
 * 0
 * 3.5
 * 0
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 5
 * - class="unsortable" class="sortbottom" style="background:#C9C9C9"
 * align="left"| Total
 * 25.2
 * 6
 * 23.7
 * 5
 * 22.6
 * 4
 * 17.6
 * 3
 * 3.8
 * 1
 * 7.1
 * 1
 * 20
 * }
 * 7.1
 * 1
 * 20
 * }
 * }

Area A
1977: 2 x Alliance, 1 x UUP, 1 x UPNI, 1 x Independent Unionist

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

1977-1981 Change: DUP gain from Alliance

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

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

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

Area C
1977: 2 x Alliance, 2 x UUP, 1 x Vanguard

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

1977-1981 Change: UPUP and DUP gain from UUP and Vanguard

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

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

1977-1981 Change: DUP gain from UUUP