John Wesley Neville Martin (1916–17 April 1966) was a

Northern Irish The people of Northern Ireland are all people born in Northern Ireland and having, at the time of their birth, at least one parent who is a British Nationality Law, British citizen, an Irish nationality law, Irish citizen or is otherwis ...

politician who served as a member of the

Parliament of Northern Ireland The Parliament of Northern Ireland was the home rule legislature of Northern Ireland, created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which sat from 7 June 1921 to 30 March 1972, when it was suspended because of its inability to restore ord ...

for the

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 ...

Biography

Martin was educated at a grammar school before becoming the director of a sack company that was based in both

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

and

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

.Biographies of Members of the Northern Ireland House of Commons
/ref> He was also a founder of the Belfast Rotary Club.

Politics

He was elected Member of Parliament for Belfast Woodvale in a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

in 1955 following Robert Harcourt's appointment to the

Senate of Northern Ireland The Senate of Northern Ireland was the upper house of the Parliament of Northern Ireland created by the Government of Ireland Act 1920. It was abolished with the passing of the Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973. Powers In practice the Se ...

. He lost his seat in the 1958 general election when

Northern Ireland Labour Party The Northern Ireland Labour Party (NILP) was a political party in Northern Ireland which operated from 1924 until 1987. Origins The roots of the NILP can be traced back to the formation of the Belfast Labour Party in 1892. Previously, in 1885 ...

candidate

Billy Boyd William Nathan Boyd (born 28 August 1968) is a Scottish actor and musician. He played Peregrin "Pippin" Took in Peter Jackson's epic film trilogy ''The Lord of the Rings'' (2001–2003), Barret Bonden in '' Master and Commander: The Far Sid ...

defeated him. After his defeat Martin suggested that the close ties between the Ulster Unionist Party and the Conservative Party were counterproductive as they were driving some working-class people who would otherwise identify as Unionist away from the party.Graham Walker, ''A History of the Ulster Unionist Party: Protest, Pragmatism and Pessimism'', Manchester University Press, 2004, p. 139

References

1916 births 1966 deaths Members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland 1953–1958 Ulster Unionist Party members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland Members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland for Belfast constituencies {{Parliament-of-Northern-Ireland-member-stub