Ken Maginnis

MajorThe Right Honourable The Lord Maginnis of Drumglass
Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal
Suspended
Assumed office 20 July 2001 Life peerage
Member ofDungannon and South Tyrone Borough Council
In office 7 June 2001 – 5 May 2005
Preceded by	Joan Carson
Succeeded by	Gilbert Greenaway
Constituency	Dungannon Town
In office 15 May 1985 – 19 May 1993
Preceded by	District created
Succeeded by	Leslie Holmes
Constituency	Dungannon Town
In office 20 May 1981 – 15 May 1985
Preceded by	Jack Hassard
Succeeded by	District abolished
Constituency	Dungannon Area D
Member of Parliament forFermanagh and South Tyrone
In office 9 June 1983 – 14 May 2001
Preceded by	Owen Carron
Succeeded by	Michelle Gildernew
Member of theNorthern Ireland Forum forFermanagh and South Tyrone
In office 30 May 1996 – 25 April 1998
Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly forFermanagh and South Tyrone
In office 20 October 1982 – 1986
Preceded by	Assembly reconvened
Succeeded by	Assembly dissolved
Personal details
Born	(1938-01-21)21 January 1938 Dungannon,Northern Ireland
Nationality	British
Political party	Independent Ulster Unionist
Other political affiliations	Ulster Unionist Party(until 2012)
Alma mater	Royal School Dungannon

Kenneth Wiggins Maginnis, Baron Maginnis of Drumglass(born 21 January 1938), is aNorthern Irishpolitician andlife peer.Since December 2020, he has been suspended from theHouse of Lords,where he formerly sat for theUlster Unionist Party(UUP).He was the Ulster Unionist PartyMember of Parliament(MP) forFermanagh and South Tyronefrom 1983 to 2001.

Background

Maginnis was educated at theRoyal School Dungannonand atStranmillis College.He worked as ateacherfor a number of years before joining theUlster Defence Regiment(UDR) in 1971. After leaving theBritish Armywith the rank ofmajorin 1981, he became theUlster Unionist Party(UUP) spokesman on internal security and defence, and was that same year elected to Dungannon District Council, on which he sat for twelve years until losing his seat in 1993.

August 1981 by-election in Fermanagh and South Tyrone

Maginnis was the Ulster Unionist candidate forFermanagh and South Tyronein thesecond by-election in 1981,coming second. This by-election was caused by the death of sitting MPBobby Sandson hunger strike. As a result of changes to the electoral law with the passing of theRepresentation of the People Act 1981,another hunger striker could not be nominated. InsteadOwen Carron,who had served as Sands' election agent in the earlier election, was nominated and elected as a "Anti-H-Block Proxy Political Prisoner".

Member of Parliament

The following year, he was elected to the failedNorthern Ireland Assembly,as a representative for the Fermanagh and South Tyrone constituency. At the1983 general electionhe was elected to theHouse of Commonsas theMember of Parliamentfor the constituency of the same name, defeating Carron who was defending the seat as aSinn Feincandidate. Two years later, along with the rest of hisUnionistcolleagues, heresignedhis seat in protest at theAnglo-Irish Agreement,but was re-elected in the subsequent by-election. He continued his protest by refusing to pay his car tax, for which he was sentenced to seven days' imprisonment in 1987.

Councillor

He renewed his membership ofDungannon and South Tyrone Borough Councilin 2001 when he was elected for Dungannon Town. However, in 2005 he chose to move to the neighbouring Clogher Valley electoral area in an attempt to boost theUUPvote. This strategy backfired and he again lost his seat.

House of Lords

He stood down as an MP at the2001 general election,and on 20 July of that year was created alife peertaking the titleBaron Maginnis of Drumglass,ofCarnteelin theCounty of Tyrone,and took his seat in theHouse of Lords,sitting initially with the UUP.

In December 2020, the House of Lords Conduct Committee recommended that Maginnis be suspended from the House of Lords for at least 18 months for breaching the Code of Conduct in relation to behaviour that constituted bullying and harassment against four complainants,includinghomophobicremarks directed atSNPMPHannah BardellandShadow Environment SecretaryLuke Pollard.As well as being overheard saying "I am not going to be bullied by queers",he sent an email toJames Gray,chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Armed Forces, with the subject "Discrimination by Homos".

Political views

Maginnis was perceived to be on the moresocial liberalwing of the UUP along withLady Hermon.He is one of only three MPs in theUlster Unionist Party's history not to have been a member of theOrange Order(the other two beingEnoch Powelland Lady Hermon), although he was a member of theApprentice Boys of Derry.

In April 1994 Sinn Féin demanded that their members be permitted to carry personal protection weapons like other political parties following the murder of Catholic woman Theresa Clinton (the wife of a Sinn Féin member) by theUlster Defence Association(UDA). Maginnis, speaking as UUP security spokesman, responded: "Those who deliberately and consciously incite violence against themselves should not expect the law-abiding community to finance their protection.

In June 2012, onBBC Northern Ireland'sThe Nolan Show,Maginnis stated he was opposed togay marriagebecause it was "unnatural" and he did not believe society should "have imposed on it something that is unnatural". He said: "Does that mean that every deviant practice has to be accommodated? Will the next thing be that we legislate for some sort of bestiality?" The comments prompted the Ulster Unionist Party leader,Mike Nesbitt,to state that Maginnis expressed his views in a personal capacity and did not reflect party policy. Maginnis's remarks were condemned by gay rights groups.That same month, at the behest of Nesbitt, he suffered the withdrawal of the UUP partywhipover his comments; Maginnis resigned from the UUP on 28 August 2012.

Controversies

In August 2013, Lord Maginnis of Drumglass was found guilty of an "angry and abusive tirade" following aroad rageincident, and was fined.

In 2016, Maginnis received a heavy fine after refusing to pay a small fine for having the wrong ticket for a train journey betweenGatwick Airportand London.

See also

• List of Northern Ireland Members of the House of Lords

External links

• Hansard1803–2005:contributions in Parliament by Ken Maginnis