Jim Kirkpatrick is a Unionist politician who has represented 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) three times and 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 ...

twice. Kirkpatrick was first elected as a UUP member of the

Northern Ireland Assembly sco-ulster, Norlin Airlan Assemblie , legislature = 7th Northern Ireland Assembly, Seventh Assembly , coa_pic = File:NI_Assembly.svg , coa_res = 250px , house_type = Unicameralism, Unicameral , hou ...

for Belfast South in 1982. Three years later 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 ...

, representing the Balmoral electoral area, which covered the Lisburn, Malone and Donegal Road areas of the city. Kirkpatrick joined the

(DUP) in 1996 and lost his council seat in

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

, having moved from Balmoral to Laganbank. He subsequently rejoined the UUP and became chairman of the

Drumbo Drumbo () is a small village, townland and civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is about south of Belfast city centre, east of Lisburn and west of Carryduff. It is in the historic barony of Castlereagh Upper. The townland has an ...

branch in Lagan Valley. He was selected to contest the elections to the

in 2003 by

Lagan Valley The Lagan Valley (, Ulster Scots: ''Glen Lagan'') is an area of Northern Ireland between Belfast and Lisburn. The River Lagan rises on Slieve Croob in County Down and flows generally northward discharging into Belfast Lough. For a section, the ...

UUP in a controversial selection meeting but polled fewer than 700 votes and was quickly eliminated. Following this, in December 2004 he again defected to the DUP and was returned for that party to Belfast City Council in

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, regaining his original seat in Balmoral. In 2007 however, Kirkpatrick was pictured at a fundraising dinner with

Jim Allister James Hugh Allister (born 2 April 1953) is a British Unionist politician and barrister in Northern Ireland. He founded the Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) political party in 2007, leading the party since its formation. Allister has served as ...

MEP, held to raise funds for a new Unionist Party opposed to powersharing. On 2 June 2009 he again defected back to the UUP, accusing senior DUP members of "caring more about dynasty building and expense claims than voters."Irish Times 3 June 2009
/ref> He lost his seat at the 2011 council elections to businessman and publisher

Máirtín Ó Muilleoir Máirtín Ó Muilleoir ( Martin Millar; born 1959) is an Irish Sinn Féin politician, author, publisher and businessman, who served as the 58th Lord Mayor of Belfast (2013–14). Ó Muilleoir's siblings include writer, blogger and '' Huffington ...

(

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gri ...

). Kirkpatrick served as High Sheriff before, having fulfilled the role in 1990. He was sworn in again as

High Sheriff of Belfast The High Sheriff of Belfast is a title and position which was created in 1900 under the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898, with Sir James Henderson the first holder. Like other high sheriff positions, it is largely a ceremonial post today. The ...

in a traditional ceremony at Belfast City Hall in January 2007, succeeding Councillor William Humphrey. He is a member of Malone Presbyterian Church, the

Masonic Order Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

and the

Orange Order The Loyal Orange Institution, commonly known as the Orange Order, is an international Protestant fraternal order based in Northern Ireland and primarily associated with Ulster Protestants, particularly those of Ulster Scots heritage. It also ...

.Ceremony: High Sheriff of Belfast
, belfastcity.gov.uk; accessed 11 July 2016.

References

High Sheriffs of Belfast Living people Members of Belfast City Council Democratic Unionist Party politicians Northern Ireland MPAs 1982–1986 Ulster Unionist Party councillors Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) {{NorthernIreland-politician-stub