Clifford Smyth (born 1944) is a Northern Irish

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

and former unionist

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

Background

Smyth stood for the

Democratic Unionist Party The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a Unionism in Ireland, unionist, Ulster loyalism, loyalist, British nationalist and national conservative political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1971 during the Troubles by Ian Paisley, who ...

(DUP) in North Antrim in the

1973 Northern Ireland Assembly election The 1973 elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly took place following the publication of the British government's white paper ''Northern Ireland Constitutional Proposals'' which proposed a 78-member Northern Ireland Assembly (1973), Northern ...

, narrowly missing out on a seat. Following the death of David McCarthy, an

Ulster Unionist Party The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a Unionism in Ireland, unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded as the Ulster Unionist Council in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it l ...

(UUP) MPA, he easily won a by-election for a seat on the Assembly. He also became the secretary of the

United Ulster Unionist Council The United Ulster Unionist Council (also known as the United Ulster Unionist Coalition) was a body that sought to bring together the Unionism in Ireland, Unionists opposed to the Sunningdale Agreement in Northern Ireland. Formation The UUUC was e ...

. Smyth was elected to the

Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention The Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention (NICC) was an elected body set up in 1975 by the United Kingdom Labour Party (UK), Labour government of Harold Wilson as an attempt to deal with constitutional issues surrounding the status of N ...

, again in North Antrim, in 1975. He was expelled from the DUP, however, in 1976, after he was accused of passing information to the then Secretary of State Merlyn Rees' office. He joined the

(UUP) and stood unsuccessfully as its candidate for the Westminster seat of North Down at the 1979 general election. From the 1980s onwards, Smyth turned increasingly to history and the

Orange Order The Loyal Orange Institution, commonly known as the Orange Order, is an international Protestant fraternal order based in Northern Ireland and primarily associated with Ulster Protestants. It also has lodges in England, Grand Orange Lodge of ...

. He wrote a critical

biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curri ...

Ian Paisley Ian Richard Kyle Paisley, Baron Bannside, (6 April 1926 – 12 September 2014) was a loyalist politician and Protestant religious leader from Northern Ireland who served as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) from 1971 to 2008 and ...

, ''Ian Paisley: Voice of Protestant Ulster''. He was also a leading member of the

Campaign for Equal Citizenship The Campaign for Equal Citizenship was a political advocacy group that supported the integration of Northern Ireland into the United Kingdom and called for the full participation of mainland political parties in Northern Irish politics. The group ...

, which was founded in 1986, and campaigned for the three main British political parties to fully organise in Northern Ireland.Dealing with my sexual brokenness - imported - Belfasttelegraph.co.uk
/ref> Smyth was also a history teacher at Knockbreda High School in Belfast for many years, and is also regarded as an expert on the Orange Order and its lodges. During the 1990s, Smyth resigned from the Orange Order. In 2005, he revealed that he had

transvestite Cross-dressing is the act of wearing clothes traditionally or stereotypically associated with a different gender. From as early as pre-modern history, cross-dressing has been practiced in order to disguise, comfort, entertain, and express onesel ...

compulsions. He criticised Ian Paisley and the DUP's decision to share power with

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

and claimed the DUP would lose a lot of voters because of this. In 2011 it was revealed the BBC decided to drop him from its yearly live coverage of the twelfth of July parades in Belfast. Smyth who commentated on the programme for over 10 years was quoted as being 'sad' after being informed.Twelfth historian sad after axing by BBC
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smyth, Clifford 1944 births Living people Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly 1973–1974 Members of the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention Ulster Unionist Party parliamentary candidates