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Strangford (Assembly Constituency)
Strangford is a constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly. The seat was first used for a Northern Ireland-only election for the Northern Ireland Forum in 1996. Since 1998, it has elected members to the current Assembly. For Assembly elections before 1996, the constituency was largely part of the North Down (Assembly constituency), North Down constituency with smaller sections being added from Belfast East (Assembly constituency), Belfast East constituency and Belfast South (Assembly constituency), Belfast South constituency. From 1997 until 2024, it shared boundaries with the Strangford (UK Parliament constituency), Strangford UK Parliament constituency until the Parliamentary constituency's boundaries changed for the 2024 United Kingdom general election. For further details of the history and boundaries of the Parliamentary constituency, see Strangford (UK Parliament constituency). Members Note: The columns in this table are used only for presentational purposes, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Northern Ireland Assembly
The Northern Ireland Assembly (; ), often referred to by the metonym ''Stormont'', is the devolved unicameral legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and to appoint the Northern Ireland Executive. It sits at Parliament Buildings at Stormont in Belfast. The Assembly is a unicameral, democratically elected body comprising 90 members known as members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs). Members are elected under the single transferable vote form of proportional representation (STV-PR). In turn, the Assembly selects most of the ministers of the Northern Ireland Executive using the principle of power-sharing under the D'Hondt method to ensure that Northern Ireland's largest voting blocs, British unionists and Irish nationalists, both participate in governing the region. The Assembly's standing orders allow for certain contentious motions to require a cross ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Belfast East (Assembly Constituency)
Belfast East is a constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly. The seat was first used for a Northern Ireland-only election for the Northern Ireland Assembly, 1973. It usually shares boundaries with the Belfast East UK Parliament constituency, however the boundaries of the two constituencies were slightly different from 1983 to 1986 and 2010 to 2011 as the Assembly boundaries had not caught up with Parliamentary boundary changes and from 1996 to 1997 when members of the Northern Ireland Forum had been elected from the newly drawn Parliamentary constituencies but the 51st Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected in 1992 under the 1983–95 constituency boundaries, was still in session. Members were then elected from the constituency to the 1975 Constitutional Convention, the 1982 Assembly, the 1996 Forum and then to the current Assembly from 1998. For further details of the history and boundaries of the constituency, see Belfast East (UK Parliament constituency) Bel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tom Hamilton (politician)
Tom Hamilton (born 8 July 1954) is an Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) politician who was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Strangford from 2000 to 2003. Background Born in Belfast, Hamilton studied at the Methodist College, Belfast, then at Stranmillis College. He became a teacher and in 1993 was elected to Ards Borough Council as an Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) member. From 1999, he served as Deputy Mayor, then from 2000 to 2001 as Mayor of Ards. Hamilton stood in the 1998 Northern Ireland Assembly election, in Strangford. Although unsuccessful, he was co-opted in January 2001, following the death of fellow UUP member Tom Benson. He did not defend his seat in 2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic .... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Co-option
Co-option, also known as co-optation and sometimes spelt cooption or cooptation, is a term with three common meanings. It may refer to: 1) The process of adding members to an elite Social group, group at the discretion of members of the body, usually to manage opposition and so maintain the stability of the group. Outsiders are "co-opted" by being given a degree of power on the grounds of their elite status, specialist knowledge, or potential ability to threaten essential commitments or goals ("formal co-optation"). Co-optation may take place in many other contexts, such as a technique by a dictatorship to control opposition. 2) The process by which a group subsumes or acculturates a smaller or weaker group with related interests, or the process by which one group gains converts from another group by replicating some aspects of it without adopting the full program or ideal ("informal co-optation"). Co-optation is associated with the cultural tactic of Recuperation (politics), re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
UK Unionist Party
The UK Unionist Party (UKUP) was a small unionist political party in Northern Ireland from 1995 to 2008 that opposed the Good Friday Agreement. It was nominally formed by Robert McCartney, formerly of the Ulster Unionist Party, to contest the 1995 North Down by-election and then further constituted to contest the 1996 elections for the Northern Ireland Forum. McCartney had previously contested the 1987 general election as an independent using the label Real Unionist. Ideology In contrast to other unionist parties, the UK Unionist Party was an integrationist party which believed that Northern Ireland should be governed from London with no regional home rule government and parliament. The UKUP was outspoken in its opposition to the Republic of Ireland having any participative role in the governance of Northern Ireland. It was also highly critical of the British Labour government of Tony Blair agreeing to Sinn Féin's participation in the Northern Ireland Executive prio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cedric Wilson
Cedric Wilson (born 6 June 1948) is a former Northern Irish unionist politician who was leader of the Northern Ireland Unionist Party (NIUP) from 1999 to 2008, and a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Strangford from 1998 to 2003. He founded the NIUP after resigning from the UK Unionist Party (UKUP), in response to party leader Bob McCartney's proposal to withdraw his MLAs from the Assembly, in the event of the IRA not decommissioning their weapons. Career Born in Belfast, Wilson became the director of a private nursing home. In 1981, he was elected to Castlereagh Borough Council for the Democratic Unionist Party, a post he held until 1989. During this time, he became known for his role in campaigning against the Anglo-Irish Agreement. At the 1982 Northern Ireland Assembly election, Wilson stood unsuccessfully in Belfast South. In 1996, he joined the UK Unionist Party (UKUP), and was elected to the Northern Ireland Forum under the top-up system in 1996. When the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1998 Northern Ireland Assembly Election
The 1998 Northern Ireland Assembly election took place on Thursday, 25 June 1998. This was the first election to the new devolved Northern Ireland Assembly. Six members from each of Northern Ireland's eighteen House of Commons of the United Kingdom, Westminster Parliamentary constituencies were elected by single transferable vote, giving a total of 108 Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs). Background and campaign The election was the culmination of the years long Northern Ireland peace process, Peace Process that had resulted in the Good Friday Agreement on 10 April 1998. The Agreement had been the result of multi-party talks in Northern Ireland, as well as talks with the British and Irish governments. The Agreement would need to be endorsed by 1998 Northern Ireland Good Friday Agreement referendum, referendums in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland that were scheduled for the 22nd of May. Of the parties who had won election in 1996 to the Northern Ireland Forum ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iris Robinson
Iris Robinson (née Collins; born 6 September 1949) is a former Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician in Northern Ireland. She is married to Peter Robinson, who was First Minister of Northern Ireland from 2008 to 2016. Robinson was first elected councillor for Castlereagh Borough Council in 1989, and served as Mayor in 1992 and 1995. She was a member of the Northern Ireland Forum for Political Dialogue from 1995 to 1997. In 1998 she was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly for the Democratic Unionist Party as member for Strangford, acting as Deputy Whip and health spokesperson. She was elected as DUP Member of Parliament for Strangford at the 2001 general election, replacing the Ulster Unionist Party's John Taylor. She was re-elected at the 2005 general election. Robinson describes herself as a born-again Christian, and has publicly stated that "the government has the responsibility to uphold God's laws". In light of this, she was criticised for her views on ho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Taylor, Baron Kilclooney
John David Taylor, Baron Kilclooney, PC (NI) (born 24 December 1937), is a Northern Irish unionist politician who was deputy leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) from 1995 to 2001, and the Member of Parliament (MP) for Strangford from 1983 to 2001. Lord Kilclooney has sat as a crossbench life peer in the House of Lords since 2001. He was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Strangford from 1998 to 2007. Kilclooney also served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Northern Ireland from 1979 to 1989. Early life John Taylor was born in Armagh in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. He was educated at The Royal School, Armagh, and Queen's University Belfast, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree. Political career Taylor's political career began as MP for South Tyrone in the Northern Ireland House of Commons between 1970 and 1972, and he served in the Government of Northern Ireland as Minister of State at the Ministry of Ho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jim Shannon
Richard James Shannon (born 25 March 1955) is a Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Strangford since 2010. He is the DUP's Health Spokesperson. He had previously sat in the Northern Ireland Assembly from 1998 to 2010 as the Member of the Legislative Assembly of Northern Ireland (MLA) for Strangford. Personal life Shannon was born on 25 March 1955 in Omagh. He is a member of the Orange Order and Apprentice Boys of Derry. He has been voted "least sexy MP" in a list of all Westminster MPs but laughed off his position at the bottom of the poll. In December 2022, Shannon broke down in tears as he thanked his "long-suffering" wife in the Commons. Shannon lost his mother-in-law to COVID-19 and has previously spoken about her in the House as well. Military service Shannon served in the Ulster Defence Regiment in 1974–1975 and 1976–1977. He subsequently served over eleven years in the Royal Artillery ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tom Benson (politician)
Tom Benson (26 August 1929 – 24 December 2000) was an Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) politician who was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Strangford from 1998 to 2000. Biography Born in Enniskillen, Benson was an officer in the Royal Ulster Constabulary. He joined the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) and was elected to Ards Borough Council, serving as Mayor of Ards from 1987–88.Biography – Tom Benson, Northern Ireland Assembly During this year, he defied a ban on UUP representatives meeting Government ministers and met the [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kieran McCarthy
Kieran McCarthy (born 9 September 1942) is a retired Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (APNI) politician. From 1998 to 2016 he was a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Strangford. He served as Assembly chief whip for APNI in the Assembly. Background McCarthy was born in Newtownards and worked as a draper. In 1985 he was first elected to Ards Borough Council. In 1990 he became a Justice of the Peace. He was then elected to the Northern Ireland Peace Forum in 1996 from Strangford and has subsequently won a Northern Ireland Assembly seat there in all three elections to that body. In the 2007 elections his seat was targeted by the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), but he won easily with a significantly increased vote. He has stated his appreciation for the Good Friday Agreement on a number of occasions but believes a more party-aligned/devolved agreement would work more effectively. McCarthy has stated his strong dislike for Direct Rule, causing a major democra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
