Robert Simpson (3 July 1923 – 8 April 1997) 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 ...

Early life and education

Born in

Ballymena Ballymena ( ; from ga, an Baile Meánach , meaning 'the middle townland') is a town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is part of the Borough of Mid and East Antrim. The town is built on land given to the Adair family by King Charles I i ...

and often known as Bob Simpson, Simpson studied medicine at

Queen's University Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

before setting up his own practice.

Political career

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 ...

(UUP) in 1952, and was selected as the party's candidate for Mid Antrim. He won the seat, unopposed, at the

1953 Northern Ireland general election The 1953 Northern Ireland general election was held on 22 October 1953. Like all previous elections to the Parliament of Northern Ireland, it produced a large majority for the Ulster Unionist Party. Results ''All parties shown ...

, and held it at each election thereafter, not facing a single opponent until

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

Roy Bradford Roy Hamilton Bradford (7 July 1921 – 2 September 1998) was a Unionist politician in Northern Ireland and a government minister in both the Parliament of Northern Ireland and the 1973 Northern Ireland Assembly. Born in Ligoniel in Belfast, B ...

,
Obituary: Dr Robert Simpson
, ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', 29 April 1997 A strong support of

Terence O'Neill Terence Marne O'Neill, Baron O'Neill of the Maine, PC (NI) (10 September 1914 – 12 June 1990), was the fourth prime minister of Northern Ireland and leader (1963–1969) of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP). A moderate unionist, who sought to ...

's reforms, Simpson was appointed briefly as Additional Parliamentary Secretary in the Department of the Prime Minister, and then as the first

Minister for Community Relations The Minister for Community Relations was a member of the Cabinet in the Parliament of Northern Ireland which governed Northern Ireland from 1922 to 1972. The post was created in 1969 and lasted until 1972. It was vacant for a month in 1971, afte ...

in late 1969. He resigned from the

freemasons 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 from 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 ...

in an attempt to appear impartial. In the role, he organised a series of

dinner parties A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will oft ...

with attendees from both

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

and unionist backgrounds, and through these developed a friendship with

Seamus Heaney Seamus Justin Heaney (; 13 April 1939 – 30 August 2013) was an Irish poet, playwright and translator. He received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature.

. When

Brian Faulkner Arthur Brian Deane Faulkner, Baron Faulkner of Downpatrick, (18 February 1921 – 3 March 1977), was the sixth and last Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, from March 1971 until his resignation in March 1972. He was also the chief executive ...

became

Prime Minister of Northern Ireland The prime minister of Northern Ireland was the head of the Government of Northern Ireland between 1921 and 1972. No such office was provided for in the Government of Ireland Act 1920; however, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, as with governors- ...

in 1971, Simpson was removed from his ministerial post and, the following year, Simpson resigned from the UUP.

Simon Hoggart Simon David Hoggart (26 May 1946 – 5 January 2014) was an English journalist and broadcaster. He wrote on politics for ''The Guardian'', and on wine for ''The Spectator''. Until 2006 he presented ''The News Quiz'' on BBC Radio 4. His journali ...

, "Another Ulster Unionist quits", ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 10 October 1972 Simpson spent the remainder of his life writing on

medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

and

travel Travel is the movement of people between distant geographical locations. Travel can be done by foot, bicycle, automobile, train, boat, bus, airplane, ship or other means, with or without luggage, and can be one way or round trip. Travel c ...

, developing an

arboretum An arboretum (plural: arboreta) in a general sense is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, man ...

and organising the Ballymena Music Festival.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, Robert 1923 births 1997 deaths Members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland 1953–1958 Members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland 1958–1962 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 Members of the Privy Council of Northern Ireland Northern Ireland junior government ministers (Parliament of Northern Ireland) General practitioners from Northern Ireland Ulster Unionist Party members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland Alumni of Queen's University Belfast People from Ballymena Members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland for County Antrim constituencies Politicians from County Antrim