James Harold McCusker (7 February 1940 – 12 February 1990) was a

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

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 ...

politician who served as the Deputy Leader of the UUP Assembly Group from 1982 to 1986.

Early life

The younger son of Jim and Lily McCusker (he had one older brother), he was born and raised in the heart of

Lurgan Lurgan () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, near the southern shore of Lough Neagh and roughly southwest of Belfast. The town is linked to Belfast by both the M1 motorway (Northern Ireland), M1 motorway and the Belfast–Dublin rail ...

. Educated at Lurgan Model Primary School, Lurgan College and Stranmillis University College, before qualifying as a teacher. Before entering politics he worked in industry, latterly with Goodyear, in their Craigavon Plant.

Political career

He represented the Armagh constituency, and was first returned to the

British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 memb ...

at the February 1974 general election. He was returned again in October 1974 and in the 1979 election, having supported the Callaghan government in the vote of no confidence that had toppled it.
/ref> In 1982 he topped the poll in Armagh in the Assembly election. At the 1983 United Kingdom general election, 1983 general election, McCusker was returned for the new seat of Upper Bann. Alongside other Unionist MPs, he resigned his seat in protest at the

Anglo-Irish Agreement The Anglo-Irish Agreement was a 1985 treaty between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland which aimed to help bring an end to the Troubles in Northern Ireland. The treaty gave the Irish government an advisory role in Northern Irelan ...

in 1985, in order to contest his seat again at the ensuing by-election. He was returned again at the 1987 general election, which was to prove his last — he died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

in 1990, causing another by-election, which was won by future Ulster Unionist leader

David Trimble William David Trimble, Baron Trimble, (15 October 1944 – 25 July 2022) was a Northern Irish politician who was the inaugural First Minister of Northern Ireland from 1998 to 2002 and leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) from 1995 to 20 ...

Personal life

McCusker was an Orangeman and staunch Unionist. He was married, with 3 sons, Moore, James and Colin. His youngest son, Colin (who was 18 at the time of his father's death), ran for the

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 Parliam ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, polling 3,402 first preference votes, but failed to get elected. He served on

Craigavon Borough Council Craigavon Borough Council was a local council in counties Armagh, Down and Antrim, in Northern Ireland. It merged with Armagh City and District Council and Banbridge District Council in May 2015 under local government reorganisation in Nor ...

from February 2012 to March 2015 as an Ulster Unionist, and was elected the last Mayor of Craigavon in June 2014. Colin was elected to the new

Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council is a local authority that was established on 1 April 2015. It replaced Armagh City and District Council, Banbridge District Council and Craigavon Borough Council. The first elections to the ...

in May 2014. Prior to his death from cancer in 1990, five days after his 50th birthday, McCusker was expected to rise further in the Ulster Unionist Party and British political scenes, due to his ability and popularity among his peers and the wider public. He was a member of the Lurgan Circuit of the

Methodist Church in Ireland The Methodist Church in Ireland () is a Wesleyan Methodist church that operates across both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland on an all-Ireland basis. It is the fourth-largest Christian denomination in Northern Ireland. The Irish Met ...

References

External links

* 1940 births 1990 deaths Deaths from cancer in Northern Ireland Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Armagh constituencies (since 1922) Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Upper Bann Northern Ireland MPAs 1982–1986 Ulster Unionist Party MPs UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 UK MPs 1983–1987 UK MPs 1987–1992 People from Portadown People educated at Lurgan College Alumni of Stranmillis University College {{NorthernIreland-UK-MP-stub