A general election was held in the Northern Territory on Saturday June 7, 1980. It was the first to be held since self-government was attained two years earlier, and was won by the incumbent Country Liberal Party (CLP) under Chief Minister Paul Everingham. Although the CLP's share of the vote increased by almost 10 percentage points, it lost one seat. The only independent member of the Legislative Assembly, Dawn Lawrie, retained her seat of Nightcliff.