Michael McGimpsey (born 1 July 1948) is a former
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) politician who was a
Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly
Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs; ga, Comhaltaí den Tionól Reachtach; sco-ulster, Laa-Makkan Forgaitherars) are representatives elected by the voters to the Northern Ireland Assembly.
About
The Northern Ireland Assembly has 90 ...
(MLA) for
Belfast South from 1998 to 2016.
McGimpsey was born in
Donaghadee
Donaghadee ( , ) is a small town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the northeast coast of the Ards Peninsula, about east of Belfast and about six miles (10 km) south east of Bangor. It is in the civil parish of Donaghadee and t ...
,
County Down
County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...
and was educated in
Regent House Grammar School
Regent House School is a coeducational controlled grammar school in Newtownards, County Down, Northern Ireland. It comprises two parts: the preparatory department, known as "the Prep", and the main school itself. It has over 1450 pupils from ...
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 is a businessman aside from politics involved in property development, hotels and the hospitality sector. In the mid-1980s he came to prominence alongside his brother
Christopher
Christopher is the English language, English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek language, Greek name Χριστόφορος (''Christophoros'' or ''Christoforos''). The constituent parts are Χριστός (''Christós''), "Jesus ...
when they challenged the
Anglo-Irish Agreement
The Anglo-Irish Agreement was a 1985 treaty between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland which aimed to help bring an end to the Troubles in Northern Ireland. The treaty gave the Irish government an advisory role in Northern Irelan ...
by bringing a suit against the
Irish government
The Government of Ireland ( ga, Rialtas na hÉireann) is the cabinet that exercises executive authority in Ireland.
The Constitution of Ireland vests executive authority in a government which is headed by the , the head of government. The governm ...
in the
High Court of the Republic of Ireland
The High Court ( ga, An Ard-Chúirt) of Ireland is a court which deals at first instance with the most serious and important civil and criminal cases. When sitting as a criminal court it is called the Central Criminal Court and sits with judg ...
, arguing that the Agreement was invalid because it contradicted
Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution of Ireland
Article 2 and Article 3 of the Constitution of Ireland ( ga, Bunreacht na hÉireann) were adopted with the Constitution of Ireland as a whole on 29 December 1937, but revised completely by means of the Nineteenth Amendment which became effectiv ...
(this argument was unusual coming from Unionists because of the traditional Unionist opposition to these two articles.) The case failed in the High Court, and again on appeal to the
Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
.
McGimpsey's UUP office is located on
Sandy Row
Sandy Row () is a large inner city estate in south Belfast, Northern Ireland. It lends its name to the surrounding residential community, which is predominantly Protestant working-class. The Sandy Row area had a population of 2,153 in 2001; in 2 ...
in south Belfast.
Early political career
In 1993 he was first 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
1996 Northern Ireland Forum election McGimpsey was third on the UUP list. As a result, he was not involved in the negotiations for the
Belfast Agreement
The Good Friday Agreement (GFA), or Belfast Agreement ( ga, Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta or ; Ulster-Scots: or ), is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April 1998 that ended most of the violence of The Troubles, a political conflict in No ...
. In 1998 McGimpsey was the first member to be elected for
South Belfast on the 5th count. to 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 ...
. He was appointed to serve as Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure in the
Northern Ireland Executive
The Northern Ireland Executive is the devolved government of Northern Ireland, an administrative branch of the legislature – the Northern Ireland Assembly. It is answerable to the assembly and was initially established according to the ter ...
from 1999 until the collapse of the
Executive
Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to:
Role or title
* Executive, a senior management role in an organization
** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators
** Executive dire ...
in 2002. One of his achievements was the digitising of the Ulster Covenant by the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland.
Westminster elections
2001
In the run-up to the
2001 UK general election McGimpsey challenged sitting MP
Martin Smyth
William Martin Smyth (born 15 June 1931) is a Northern Irish unionist politician, who served as the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Belfast South from 1982 to 2005. He was a vice-president of the Conservative Monday ...
for the Ulster Unionist nomination for Belfast South and gained 43% of the valid poll. In light of anti-agreement Smyth's selection the then anti-agreement
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) did not stand a candidate, but the pro-agreement
Progressive Unionist Party
The Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) is a minor unionist political party in Northern Ireland. It was formed from the Independent Unionist Group operating in the Shankill area of Belfast, becoming the PUP in 1979. Linked to the Ulster Volunte ...
was prompted to put one up. McGimpsey, however endorsed Smyth.
2005
In 2005 the sitting UUP MP Martin Smyth retired and McGimpsey was selected as the official UUP candidate for the
south Belfast constituency in the
2005 general election following a close selection campaign against an unknown figure, Christopher Montgomery.
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 ...
, for the first time in over twenty years, stood a candidate in the form of former policeman
Jimmy Spratt
James Andrew Spratt (19 August 1951 – 4 March 2021) was a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician and police officer from Northern Ireland. He was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for South Belfast from 2007 to 2015.
Earl ...
. In the battle between the two Unionist parties, both Smyth and former Ulster Unionist leader
James Molyneaux
James Henry Molyneaux, Baron Molyneaux of Killead, KBE, PC (27 August 1920 – 9 March 2015) was a Northern Irish unionist politician who served as leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) from 1979 to 1995, and as the Member of Parliament ...
appeared in a photograph with Jimmy Spratt which was included in his election literature. While Smyth subsequently claimed that this was "just a photo" that did not constitute an endorsement, "two Ulster Unionists had let it be known in the most public fashion that they preferred an unknown DUP candidate to the man selected by their own party". When the results were declared the poll was split three ways, with
Social Democratic and Labour Party
The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) ( ga, Páirtí Sóisialta Daonlathach an Lucht Oibre) is a social-democratic and Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. The SDLP currently has eight members in the Northern Ireland ...
politician and part-time GP,
Alasdair McDonnell
Dr Alasdair McDonnell (born 1 September 1949) is an Irish politician who is a member of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), and was its leader from 2011 to 2015. He was the Member of Parliament for Belfast South from 2005 to 2017 and ...
winning the seat. Such an eventuality had been anticipated before the election in discussions between the UUP and DUP about an election pact involving
Fermanagh and South Tyrone and Belfast South amongst other constituencies.
David Burnside
David Wilson Boyd Burnside (born 24 August 1951) is an Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for South Antrim from 2001 to 2005.
Burnside was also a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for ...
is known to have favoured the pact benefiting
Tom Elliott Thomas or Tom Elliott may refer to:
* Thomas Elliott (footballer) (1890–?), English footballer
* Thomas Elliott (Australian cricketer) (1879–1939), Australian cricketer
* Thomas Elliott (New Zealand cricketer) (1867–?), New Zealand cricketer
...
, as he felt that Elliott could unite Unionists in Fermanagh and South Tyrone more readily than McGimpsey could in South Belfast.
2010
In December 2009, McGimpsey ruled himself out from standing in South Belfast in the 2010 General Election, saying that he felt he would best serve his constituents by continuing to work as Minister for Health.
2007 Assembly election
In the Assembly
election
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...
of March 2007 McGimpsey retained his seat but the UUP's vote in South Belfast fell from 27.0% in 2003 to 18.4% of the popular vote in 2007,
which resulted in the party losing its second seat, originally held by
Esmond Birnie
John Esmond Birnie (born 6 January 1965) is an economist, author and former politician. He was an Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Belfast South (Assembly constituency), Belfast South from 1998 until ...
, which was picked up by
Anna Lo
Anna Manwah Lo (born 17 June 1950) is an Alliance Party politician in Northern Ireland. of the
Alliance Party
Ulster Unionist Party
McGimpsey was politically close to
David Trimble
William David Trimble, Baron Trimble, (15 October 1944 – 25 July 2022) was a British politician who was the first First Minister of Northern Ireland from 1998 to 2002, and leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) from 1995 to 2005. He was ...
and at once talked of as a future leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, however he has never been a potential or actual challenger to a UUP leadership election. Politically McGimpsey is seen as being on the left of the Ulster Unionists and is a member of the Unionist Labour Group.
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:McGimpsey, Michael
1948 births
Living people
Ulster Unionist Party MLAs
Members of Belfast City Council
Northern Ireland MLAs 1998–2003
Northern Ireland MLAs 2003–2007
Northern Ireland MLAs 2007–2011
Northern Ireland MLAs 2011–2016
Ministers of the Northern Ireland Executive (since 1999)
Alumni of Trinity College Dublin
People from Donaghadee
People educated at Regent House Grammar School