The United Kingdom was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1981 with the song "Making Your Mind Up", composed by John Danter, with lyrics by Andy Hill, and performed by Bucks Fizz. The British participating broadcaster, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), selected its entry through a national final titled A Song for Europe 1981. The entry eventually won the Eurovision Song Contest.
Before Eurovision
A Song for Europe 1981
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reduced the number of finalists from twelve to eight in 1981. Terry Wogan hosted the national final on 11 March at the BBC Television Theatre in London. 581 songs were submitted to the Music Publisher's Association to pick eight songs. The BBC Concert Orchestra under the direction of John Coleman as conductor accompanied all the songs, but all the music was pre-recorded. The show was the 16th most watched programme of the week with a rating of 12.4 million viewers, the highest for three years. Johnny Logan was scheduled to appear as a guest on the programme, but had to cancel shortly before the air date.
Seven regional juries voted on the songs. The regional juries voted internally and awarded 15 points to their favourite song, 12 points to the second, 10 points to the third and then 9, 8, 7, 6 and 5 points in order of preference for the songs from 4th to 8th. Before the reprise, Terry Wogan incorrectly read the title of the winning song as "Where Are You Now". The prizes were presented by Wogan to John Danter, one of the songwriters, and to Mike Nolan, one of the performers.
{| class="sortable wikitable plainrowheaders" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto; text-align:center"
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|+ A Song for Europe 198111 March 1981
|-
! scope="col" |
! scope="col" | Artist
! scope="col" | Song
! scope="col" | Songwriter(s)
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Points
! scope="col" | Place
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 1
| align="left" | Headache || align="left" | "Not Without Your Ticket (Don't Go)" || align="left" | || 50 || 7
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 2
| align="left" | Gary Benson || align="left" | "All Cried Out" || align="left" | Gary Benson || 63 || 4
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 3
| align="left" | Unity || align="left" | "For Only a Day"|| align="left" | || 38 || 8
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 4
| align="left" | Beyond || align="left" | "Wish" || align="left" | || 67 || 3
|- style="font-weight:bold; background:gold;"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 5
| align="left" | Bucks Fizz || align="left" | "Making Your Mind Up" || align="left" | || 97 || 1
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 6
| align="left" | Gem || align="left" | "Have You Ever Been in Love?"|| align="left" | || 63 || 4
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 7
| align="left" | Lezlee Carling || align="left" | "Where Are You Now"|| align="left" | Lindsey Moore || 56 || 6
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 8
| align="left" | Liquid Gold || align="left" | "Don't Panic"|| align="left" | Adrian Baker || 70 || 2
|}
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto; text-align:center;"
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|+ Regional jury votes
Members of the British jury included Norman Harper, S. Andrew, David Bratt, P. Green, A. Harmann, J.P. Robinson, D. Ruteledge, S. Tapper, I. Tyler, G. Wallbank, and Conor E. Young.
|-
! scope="col" width="20%" | Score
! scope="col" | Country
|-
! scope="row" | 12 points
|
|-
! scope="row" | 10 points
|
|-
! scope="row" | 8 points
|
|-
! scope="row" | 7 points
|
|-
! scope="row" | 6 points
|
|-
! scope="row" | 5 points
|
|-
! scope="row" | 4 points
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|-
! scope="row" | 3 points
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|-
! scope="row" | 2 points
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|-
! scope="row" | 1 point
|
|}
{| class="wikitable"
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|+ Points awarded by the United Kingdom