Sir William Christie (1 June 1913 – 10 August 2008) was an

Ulster Unionist The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a Unionism in Ireland, 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 I ...

politician who served as

Lord Mayor of Belfast The Lord Mayor of Belfast is the leader and chairperson of Belfast City Council, elected annually from and by the City's 60 councillors. The Lord Mayor also serves as the representative of the city of Belfast, welcoming guests from across the Un ...

. The owner of a wallpaper company in Belfast, Christie was Lord Mayor of Belfast between 1972 and 1975. During this time his home and business were attacked several times, and his wife survived a gunshot to the head in 1972. His time in office coincided with the suspension of the

Parliament of Northern Ireland The Parliament of Northern Ireland was the home rule legislature of Northern Ireland, created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which sat from 7 June 1921 to 30 March 1972, when it was suspended because of its inability to restore ord ...

, and he was therefore the first Lord Mayor since John White in 1920 not to serve as an ''ex officio'' member of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. In the 1973 elections 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 ...

Christie stood in the north-west Belfast 'E' division (equivalent to the current wards of Legoniel,

Ballysillan Oldpark is one of the nine district electoral areas (DEA) in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Located in the North of the city, the district elects six members to Belfast City Council and contains the wards of Ardoyne; Ballysillan; Cliftonville; Lego ...

Ardoyne Ardoyne () is a working class and mainly Catholic and Irish republican district in north Belfast, Northern Ireland. It gained notoriety due to the large number of incidents during The Troubles. Foundation The village of Ardoyne was founded in ...

, Woodvale, Forthriver and Ballygomartin), which elected 6 councillors. He was the only UUP candidate to stand in E and gained 7,875 votes, which equated to 2.8 times the electoral quota. He retired in 1977, and the UUP vote dropped more than 3000 votes. Amongst two UUP councillors elected to replace him was future Lord Mayor Billy Bell.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christie, William 1913 births 2008 deaths Knights Bachelor Lord Mayors of Belfast High Sheriffs of Belfast Politicians from Belfast Ulster Unionist Party councillors Members of Belfast City Council