James Alexander Speers (born 20 May 1946), known as Jim Speers, is a Northern Irish farmer and former Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) politician, active in County Armagh.

Career

Speers works as a businessman and part-time farmer. He was elected to Armagh City and District Council in 1977 for the Ulster Unionist Party.RE-APPOINTMENT TO THE NORTHERN IRELAND TOURIST BOARD
, Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, 2 September 2003 He was an unsuccessful candidate at the

1982 Northern Ireland Assembly election The 1982 Northern Ireland Assembly elections were held on 20 October 1982 in an attempt to re-establish devolution and power-sharing in Northern Ireland. Although the Northern Ireland Assembly officially lasted until 1986 (and was seen as being ...

, but was elected to the Assembly the following year in a by-election caused by the disqualification of Seamus Mallon, a Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) member of the

1982 Northern Ireland Assembly The Northern Ireland Assembly established in 1982 represented an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to restore the devolution to Northern Ireland which had been suspended 10 years previously. The Assembly was abolished in 1986. Origins The Assem ...

, who had been a member of Seanad Éireann at the time of his election. The SDLP called on voters to boycott the election, which Speers contested as the UUP candidate. He easily beat the only other candidate, Tom French of the Workers' Party, and served on the Assembly until it was abolished in 1986. Speers contested

Newry and Armagh Newry and Armagh can refer to: * Newry and Armagh (Assembly constituency) *Newry and Armagh (UK Parliament constituency) Newry and Armagh is a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons. The current MP is Mickey Brady o ...

at the

1992 United Kingdom general election The 1992 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 9 April 1992, to elect 651 members to the House of Commons. The election resulted in the fourth consecutive victory for the Conservative Party since 1979 and would be the last tim ...

, and took second place, with 36% of the vote. In 1996, he was elected to the

Northern Ireland Forum The Northern Ireland Forum for Political Dialogue was a body set up in 1996 as part of a process of negotiations that eventually led to the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. The forum was elected, with five members being elected for each Westmin ...

, as a UUP representative for

. However, he failed to take a seat at the

1998 Northern Ireland Assembly election The 1998 Northern Ireland Assembly election took place on Thursday, 25 June 1998. This was the first election to the new devolved Northern Ireland Assembly. Six members from each of Northern Ireland's eighteen Westminster Parliamentary constit ...

. Speers later served on the Northern Ireland Tourist Board, and is the Chairperson of the UUP's Newry & Armagh Constituency Association,About us
, Newry and Armagh Ulster Unionist Constituency Association while continuing to sit on Armagh Council.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Speers, Jim 1946 births Living people Northern Ireland MPAs 1982–1986 Members of the Northern Ireland Forum Mayors of places in Northern Ireland Members of the Order of the British Empire Members of Armagh City and District Council Ulster Unionist Party councillors