Charles McCullough, sometimes known as Charlie McCullough, (18 December 1923 – 4 October 2014) was a unionist

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 ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. He was born in Belfast. McCullough was based on the

Shankill Road The Shankill Road () is one of the main roads leading through West Belfast, in Northern Ireland. It runs through the working-class, predominantly loyalist, area known as the Shankill. The road stretches westwards for about from central Belfast a ...

. He was a member of the founding executive of

Ulster Protestant Action Ulster Protestant Action (UPA) was an Ulster loyalist political party and Protestant fundamentalist vigilante group in Northern Ireland that was founded in 1956 and reformed as the Protestant Unionist Party in 1966. Founding The group was found ...

, in 1956. He was elected to

Belfast City Council Belfast City Council ( ga, Comhairle Cathrach Bhéal Feirste) is the local authority with responsibility for part of the city of Belfast, the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland. The Council serves an estimated population of (), the l ...

for the group in 1958, topping the poll. He left the group before the next elections, in 1961, joining 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 movem ...

(UUP). Cullough secured re-election under his new party colours and, by 1965, he was the chair of its Improvement Committee. He resigned from this following a dispute over the naming of the

Queen Elizabeth Bridge The Queen Elizabeth Bridge is a road bridge just to the west of the town of Windsor, Berkshire, England. The bridge carries the A332 Royal Windsor Way across the River Thames, on the reach between Romney Lock and Boveney Lock. The bridge wa ...

; he had instead hoped it would be named for

Edward Carson Edward Henry Carson, 1st Baron Carson, PC, PC (Ire) (9 February 1854 – 22 October 1935), from 1900 to 1921 known as Sir Edward Carson, was an Irish unionist politician, barrister and judge, who served as the Attorney General and Solicito ...

, and believed that this name had been rejected due to party indiscipline. In 1968, McCullough was elected 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 Sen ...

.The Northern Ireland Senate, 1921-72
, Northern Ireland Elections He resigned from the UUP in September 1970, and became a founder member of the

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 J ...

(DUP) the following year. The Senate ceased to meet in 1972, and, although McCullough remained a supporter of the DUP, he did not stand in any further elections. On 4 October 2014, he died at the age of 90.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mccullough, Charles 1923 births 2014 deaths Democratic Unionist Party members of the Senate of Northern Ireland Members of Belfast City Council Members of the Senate of Northern Ireland 1965–1969 Members of the Senate of Northern Ireland 1969–1973 Ulster Protestant Action members Ulster Unionist Party members of the Senate of Northern Ireland