Basil McCrea (born 13 November 1959) is a former

Northern Irish Northern Irish people is a demonym for all people born in Northern Ireland or people who are entitled to reside in Northern Ireland without any restriction on their period of residence. Most Northern Irish people either identify as Northern ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. He was the party leader of

NI21 NI21 was a short-lived political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 2013 by ex-Ulster Unionist Party MLAs Basil McCrea and John McCallister. Although it explicitly supported Northern Ireland staying part of the United Kingdom (i.e. ...

from 2013 until it disbanded in 2016. He was also a

Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs; ga, Comhaltaí den Tionól Reachtach; sco-ulster, Laa-Makkan Forgaitherars) are representatives elected by the voters to the Northern Ireland Assembly. About The Northern Ireland Assembly has 90 ...

(MLA) for

Lagan Valley The Lagan Valley (, Ulster Scots: ''Glen Lagan'') is an area of Northern Ireland between Belfast and Lisburn. The River Lagan rises on Slieve Croob in County Down and flows generally northward discharging into Belfast Lough. For a section, the ...

from 2007 to 2016.

Political career

McCrea unsuccessfully contested the 2005 general election in

for the

Ulster Unionist Party The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it led unionist opposition to the Irish Home Rule ...

(UUP). He was elected in 2007 to the

Northern Ireland Assembly sco-ulster, Norlin Airlan Assemblie , legislature = Seventh Assembly , coa_pic = File:NI_Assembly.svg , coa_res = 250px , house_type = Unicameral , house1 = , leader1_type = ...

as a UUP member for

. He has been a UUP Councillor on

Lisburn City Council Lisburn City Council was the local authority for an area partly in County Antrim and partly in County Down in Northern Ireland. As of May 2015 it was merged with Castlereagh Borough Council as part of the reform of local government in Northern ...

and was, until his election to the Assembly, a Party officer and spokesman for the Northern Ireland Manufacturers' Focus Group. He has served as a member of the

Northern Ireland Policing Board The Northern Ireland Policing Board ( ga, Bord Póilíneachta Thuaisceart Éireann, Ulster-Scots: ''Norlin Airlan Polisin Boord'') is the police authority for Northern Ireland, charged with supervising the activities of the Police Service of Nor ...

and UUP spokesman on Education. He was formerly a member of the Assembly Committee for the

Department for Employment and Learning The Department for Employment and Learning (DEL), ( ga, An Roinn Fostaíochta agus Foghlama; Ulster Scots: ''Depairtment for Employ an Learnin''), was a devolved Northern Ireland government department in the Northern Ireland Executive. The min ...

. He stood for leader of the

(UUP) against

Tom Elliott Thomas or Tom Elliott may refer to: * Thomas Elliott (footballer) (1890–?), English footballer * Thomas Elliott (Australian cricketer) (1879–1939), Australian cricketer * Thomas Elliott (New Zealand cricketer) (1867–?), New Zealand cricketer ...

in the contest after the

UK 2010 General Election The 2010 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 6 May 2010, with 45,597,461 registered voters entitled to vote to elect members to the House of Commons. The election took place in 650 constituencies across the United Kingdom unde ...

. He was widely seen as the candidate of the UUP's "liberal" wing, while Elliott was seen as the candidate of the "conservative" wing. He lost the election by 643 votes to 296. In 2012 McCrea attended a

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur G ...

event on ' uniting Ireland' and said unionism should not be afraid to put its case. In October 2012, he was one of three unionist assembly members to vote in favour of

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

being introduced in Northern Ireland. In February 2013, having been subjected to a UUP disciplinary process for publicly opposing a proposal for a "unionist unity" candidate in an impending Parliamentary by-election, McCrea announced that he was resigning from the UUP, stating that he disagreed with the tactic of joint working with the rival

Democratic Unionist Party The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a unionist, loyalist, and national conservative political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1971 during the Troubles by Ian Paisley, who led the party for the next 37 years. Currently led by ...

NI21

On 6 June 2013 at the Metropolitan Arts Centre in Belfast along with fellow ex-UUP member John McCallister, McCrea launched

, with himself as leader and McCallister as deputy. The party aimed to be a more progressive, pro-European, moderate and "modern" unionist party The party aimed to form an official opposition in the assembly to the all-party consensus government. The party initially chose to be

Designated Unionist A cross-community vote or cross-community support is a form of voting used in the Northern Ireland Assembly according to the provisions of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. It requires the support of both main communities in Northern Ireland, in ot ...

members in the

. However, in May 2014, two days before European and local elections, they announced a decision to re-designate as Designated Other. Deputy leader John McCallister criticised the announcement, which he labelled "crazy" and claiming he and other members had not been properly consulted and suggested the decision was evidence of how "dysfunctional" the party had become. McCrea responded by requesting an explanation for the public criticisms and referred McCallister to the party executive. The following deputy leader and sole councillor of the party, Johnny McCarthy resigned in 2015

Allegations of sexual misconduct

In May 2014, up to nine women accused McCrea of sexual harassment. Deputy leader John McCallister called on McCrea to step down until the investigation was completed. McCallister subsequently accused McCrea of interfering with the investigation and resigned from the deputy leadership and the party. In March 2016 the Assembly Standards Commissioner dismissed all complaints of misconduct brought against Basil McCrea.

Private life

McCrea was born into an Ulster Scots family in

Omagh Omagh (; from ga, An Ómaigh , meaning 'the virgin plain') is the county town of County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is situated where the rivers Drumragh and Camowen meet to form the Strule. Northern Ireland's capital city Belfast is 68 m ...

but grew up in

Ramelton Ramelton (; ), also Rathmelton, is a town and townland in County Donegal, Ireland. , its population was 1,266. History Ramelton is situated at the mouth of the River Lennon, 11 km north of Letterkenny and 4 km south of Milford, on th ...

a small town in the north-east of

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconn ...

in the west of

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label=Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kin ...

, where he grew up in his very early years.BBC Radio Ulster "Talkback with William Crawley" radio interview (published on Basil McCrea YouTube channel) His father carried an Irish passport, although McCrea himself carries a British one. He was educated at

Belfast Royal Academy The Belfast Royal Academy (commonly shortened to ) is the oldest school in the city of Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is a co-educational, non-denominational voluntary grammar school in north Belfast. The Academy is one of 8 schools in North ...

(B.R.A.) before attaining a Chemical Engineering degree from the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingha ...

. He later attained a degree in Advanced Computer Technology from the

University of Ulster sco, Ulstèr Universitie , image = Ulster University coat of arms.png , caption = , motto_lang = , mottoeng = , latin_name = Universitas Ulidiae , established = 1865 – Magee College 1953 - Magee Un ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCrea, Basil 1959 births Living people NI21 MLAs Politicians from County Donegal Ulster Unionist Party MLAs Northern Ireland MLAs 2007–2011 Northern Ireland MLAs 2011–2016 Alumni of Ulster University People educated at the Belfast Royal Academy Alumni of the University of Birmingham LGBT rights activists from Northern Ireland