William John Stewart (1868 – 14 May 1946) was a Unionist politician in

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 ...

who formed a Progressive Unionist Association to protest "autocratic" tendencies in the Unionist government and its lack of action on unemployment.

Life

Stewart studied at

Queen's College, Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...

and became managing director at Stewart and Partners, Ltd. In 1919 he was an Independent Unionist candidate. He was elected as

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) Member of Parliament (MP) for Belfast South at the 1929 general election. He was returned unopposed in

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

and

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart ...

. and was an MP to 1945. Accusing the Unionist government of displaying "autocratic" tendencies, in April 1937 he formed the Justice for Ulster Committee which proposed limiting office in government to eight years or two parliaments. In August 1937 he founded the Ulster Progressive Unionist Party. It called for greater action on unemployment and for bringing Northern Ireland up to British standards on housing and social services. Progressive Unionist candidates opposed UUP candidates in elections, but Stewart continued to take the Conservative and Unionist whip at Westminster. Stewart retired from

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

at the 1945 general election and died the following year, aged 77.

References

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Notes

External links

* 1868 births 1946 deaths Ulster Unionist Party MPs Leaders of political parties in Northern Ireland Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Belfast constituencies (since 1922) UK MPs 1929–1931 UK MPs 1931–1935 UK MPs 1935–1945 {{NorthernIreland-UK-MP-stub