John Dobson (7 May 1929 - 12 September 2009) was a former

solicitor A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and ...

and 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 ...

. Born in

Lurgan Lurgan () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, near the southern shore of Lough Neagh. Lurgan is about south-west of Belfast and is linked to the city by both the M1 motorway and the Belfast–Dublin railway line. It had a population ...

, Dobson studied at

Lurgan College Lurgan College is a selective, non-denominational, co-educational 14-19 Grammar School, situated in the town of Lurgan, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. History In lieu of the establishment of Lurgan Model primary school in 1863, the town of Lur ...

and

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

. He joined 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 ...

and was elected to

Banbridge Banbridge ( , ) is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the River Bann and the A1 road (Northern Ireland), A1 road and is named after a bridge built over the River Bann in 1712. It is situated in the Civil parishes in Ireland, c ...

Urban District Council In England and Wales, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland, an urban district was a type of local government district that covered an urbanised area. Urban districts had an elected urban district council (UDC), which shared local gove ...

in 1961, serving until 1967. In 1965, he was elected to the

Northern Ireland House of Commons The House of Commons of Northern Ireland was the lower house of the Parliament of Northern Ireland created under the ''Government of Ireland Act 1920''. The upper house in the bicameral parliament was called the Senate. It was abolished wit ...

, representing

West Down West Down is a small village and civil parish located in North Devon, England. It is to be found on the route between Braunton and Ilfracombe, north-west of Barnstaple. The village sits in a bowl in the hills at above sea level. In 2011 i ...

. From 1968 he served as Chairman of the backbench grouping, the 66 Committee, standing down the following year, when he was appointed

Minister and Leader of the House of Commons The Minister and Leader of the House of Commons was a cabinet post in the Parliament of Northern Ireland which governed Northern Ireland from 1921 to 1972. The position was established in 1966. It was vacant for two short periods, in 1968 and ...

, a post he held until 1971.Biographies of Members of the Northern Ireland House of Commons
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References

Councillors in County Down Members of the Privy Council of Northern Ireland Members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland 1962–1965 Members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland 1965–1969 Members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland 1969–1973 Solicitors from Northern Ireland Ulster Unionist Party members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland People educated at Lurgan College Members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland for County Down constituencies Ulster Unionist Party councillors 1929 births 2009 deaths {{Parliament-of-Northern-Ireland-member-stub