Elections to Belfast City Council were held on 20 May 1981 on the same day as the other Northern Irish local government elections. The election used nine district electoral areas to elect a total of 51 councillors, most representing the more heavily populated north and west.
The DUP became the largest party, overtaking the UUP, while Grace Bannister from the UUP became the first female Lord Mayor.
Election results
Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.
Districts summary
|- class="unsortable" align="centre" !rowspan=2 align="left"|Ward ! % !Cllrs ! % !Cllrs ! % !Cllrs ! % !Cllrs ! % !Cllrs ! % !Cllrs ! % !Cllrs ! % !Cllrs ! % !Cllrs ! % !Cllrs !rowspan=2|TotalCllrs |- class="unsortable" align="center" !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | DUP !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | UUP !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | Alliance !colspan=2 bgcolor=""| SDLP !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | PD !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | IRSP !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | UDP !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | UPNI !colspan=2 bgcolor="" | PUP !colspan=2 bgcolor="white"| Others |- |align="left"|Area A |bgcolor="#D46A4C"|39.3 |bgcolor="#D46A4C"|3 |33.5 |3 |12.1 |1 |9.2 |0 |0.0 |0 |0.0 |0 |0.0 |0 |0.0 |0 |0.0 |0 |5.9 |0 |7 |- |align="left"|Area B |bgcolor="#D46A4C"|33.5 |bgcolor="#D46A4C"|2 |26.8 |2 |23.0 |2 |1.1 |0 |0.0 |0 |0.0 |0 |2.0 |0 |11.0 |1 |0.0 |0 |2.6 |0 |7 |- |align="left"|Area C |21.6 |2 |bgcolor="40BFF5"|33.6 |bgcolor="40BFF5"|2 |28.6 |2 |9.4 |0 |0.0 |0 |0.0 |0 |0.0 |0 |3.3 |0 |0.0 |0 |3.3 |0 |6 |- |align="left"|Area D |0.0 |0 |3.3 |0 |5.3 |0 |bgcolor="#99FF66"|44.8 |bgcolor="#99FF66"|3 |17.0 |1 |10.9 |1 |0.0 |0 |0.0 |0 |0.0 |0 |18.7 |1 |6 |- |align="left"|Area E |bgcolor="#D46A4C"|35.1 |bgcolor="#D46A4C"|2 |22.1 |2 |5.8 |0 |3.5 |0 |0.0 |0 |0.0 |0 |6.5 |0 |0.0 |0 |11.1 |0 |15.9 |1 |6 |- |align="left"|Area F |bgcolor="#D46A4C"|26.4 |bgcolor="#D46A4C"|2 |18.4 |1 |10.0 |1 |20.8 |1 |0.0 |0 |15.2 |1 |0.0 |0 |0.0 |0 |0.0 |0 |9.3 |0 |6 |- |align="left"|Area G |bgcolor="#D46A4C"|24.8 |bgcolor="#D46A4C"|2 |17.7 |1 |3.1 |0 |7.5 |0 |19.6 |1 |0.0 |0 |14.3 |1 |0.0 |0 |0.0 |0 |13.0 |0 |6 |- |align="left"|Area H |21.7 |2 |bgcolor="40BFF5"|27.4 |bgcolor="40BFF5"|2 |11.5 |1 |19.6 |1 |0.0 |0 |0.0 |0 |0.0 |0 |0.0 |0 |2.5 |0 |17.3 |1 |7 |- |- class="unsortable" class="sortbottom" style="background:#C9C9C9" |align="left"| Total |25.8 |15 |23.7 |13 |13.2 |7 |14.1 |6 |3.7 |2 |2.6 |2 |2.3 |1 |2.2 |1 |1.9 |1 |10.5 |3 |51
District results
Area A
1977: 2 x UUP, 2 x DUP, 2 x Alliance, 1 x SDLP 1981: 3 x DUP, 3 x UUP, 1 x Alliance 1977-1981 Change: DUP and UUP gain from Alliance and SDLP
Area B
1977: 3 x UUP, 2 x Alliance, 1 x DUP, 1 x UPNI 1981: 2 x DUP, 2 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x UPNI 1977-1981 Change: DUP gain from UUP
Area C
1977: 3 x Alliance, 2 x UUP, 1 x UPNI 1981: 2 x UUP, 2 x Alliance, 2 x DUP 1977-1981 Change: DUP (two seats) gain from Alliance and UPNI
Area D
1977: 4 x SDLP, 1 x Republican Clubs, 1 x Alliance 1981: 3 x SDLP, 1 x People's Democracy, 1 x IRSP, 1 x Independent Socialist 1977-1981 Change: People's Democracy and IRSP gain from Republican Clubs and Alliance, Independent Socialist leaves SDLP
Area E
1977: 2 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Independent, 1 x Independent Unionist 1981: 2 x DUP, 2 x UUP, 1 x PUP, 1 x Anti H-Block 1977-1981 Change: DUP and Anti H-Block gain from Alliance and Independent, Independent Unionist joins PUP
Area F
1977: 2 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Republican Clubs, 1 x Alliance 1981: 2 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x IRSP, 1 x Alliance 1977-1981 Change: DUP and IRSP gain from UUP and Republican Clubs
Area G
1977: 2 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Republican Clubs, 1 x Alliance 1981: 2 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x IRSP, 1 x UDP 1977-1981 Change: DUP, PD and UDP gain from UUP, Republican Clubs and Alliance
Area H
1977: 2 x UUP, 2 x Alliance, 1 x SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Independent Unionist 1981: 2 x UUP, 2 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Independent Unionist 1977-1981 Change: DUP gain from Alliance
References