David Burnside

This article is about the Northern Ireland politician. For the footballer, seeDavid Burnside (footballer).

David Burnside
Member of the Legislative Assembly forSouth Antrim
In office 26 November 2003 – 1 June 2009
Preceded by	Duncan Shipley-Dalton
Succeeded by	Danny Kinahan
Member of Parliament forSouth Antrim
In office 7 June 2001 – 11 April 2005
Preceded by	William McCrea
Succeeded by	William McCrea
Majority	1,011 (2.3%)
Personal details
Born	David Wilson Boyd Burnside (1951-08-24)24 August 1951 Ballymoney,Northern Ireland
Nationality	British
Political party	Ulster Unionist Party
Children	2
Alma mater	Queen's University Belfast
Profession	Businessman
Military service
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Branch/service	British Army
Unit	Ulster Defence Regiment

David Wilson Boyd Burnside(born 24 August 1951) is anUlster Unionist Party(UUP) politician, who was theMember of Parliament(MP) forSouth Antrimfrom 2001 to 2005.

Burnside was also aMember of the Northern Ireland Assembly(MLA) forSouth Antrimfrom 2003 to 2009.

In the 1970s Burnside served as Press Officer for theVanguard Progressive Unionist Party,and he unsuccessfully contestedNorth Antrimfor the party at the1973 Northern Ireland Assembly election.After the collapse of Vanguard he joined theUlster Unionist Party,standing unsuccessfully in the1982 Northern Ireland Assemblybut then took a back seat from politics for many years while working as a prominentpublic relationsconsultant based in London which led him to set up his own PR company.He also served in theUlster Defence Regiment.

Since 2015 he has been a member of the Steering Committee of the Constitution Reform Group (CRG),a cross-party pressure group chaired byRobert Gascoyne-Cecil, 7th Marquess of Salisbury,which seeks a new constitutional settlement in theUK.The Constitution Reform Group's Act of Union Bill 2018 was introduced as aPrivate Member's BillbyLord Lisvanein theHouse of Lordson 9 October 2018, when it received a formal first reading. The Bill has been described by theBBCas "one to watch"in the current Parliament.

British Airways

In 1984 Burnside was recruited by theBritish AirwaysChairmanLord Kingto become the company's head ofpublic relations.In this role Burnside is widely acknowledgedto have become one of the most powerful PR men inBritain,speaking for King, administering a £5 million budget and receiving numerous PR awards both in the UK and around the world.

His success is perhaps overshadowed by the nature of his departure. British Airways was witnessing the emergence of a potentially strong rival,Richard Branson'sVirgin Atlantic.Virgin, which began with one route and oneBoeing 747in 1984 was beginning to emerge as a serious threat on some of BA's most lucrative routes.

Following Virgin's highly publicized mission of mercy to Iraq to fly home hostages who had been held bySaddam Husseinin 1991, Lord King is reported to have told Burnside and CEOColin Marshallto "do something about Branson".This began the campaign of "dirty tricks", which ended in Branson suing King and British Airways for libel in 1992. King countersued Branson and the case went to trial in 1993. British Airways, faced with likely defeat, settled the case giving £500,000 to Branson and a further £110,000 to his airline; further, BA was to pay the legal fees of up to £3 million.

It was an article written by Burnside (given legal clearance) inBA News,the company's in house newsletter, that prompted Branson's legal action.Following the case Burnside was awarded a settlement of approximately £400,000 and freefirst class travelon BA for four years.

Return to politics

Along with several prominent current Ulster Unionist politicians, Burnside was a member of the Vanguard Movement. He was press officer for the organisation from 1974 to 1977.

He was selected to defend theSouth Antrimconstituency for the Ulster Unionists in a by-election in 2000, but narrowly lost to theDemocratic Unionist Partycandidate Rev.Willie McCrea.

However he reversed this defeat in the2001 general election.Along withJeffrey Donaldson(MP) and the Rev.Martin Smyth(MP), Burnside became an outspoken critic of his party leader,David Trimble's support for theGood Friday Agreement,arguing that theProvisional IRA's slow pace of decommissioning its arms meant thatSinn Féin,the political wing of the IRA, should not be allowed to serve in the power-sharing government.

On 23 June 2003, Burnside, Donaldson and Smyth resigned the UUP whip in the House of Commons, launching a strong attack on Trimble's leadership.The trio successfully fought off attempts to discipline them using the courts and in November 2003 both Burnside and Donaldson were elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly. However, Burnside declined to follow Donaldson when he resigned from the Ulster Unionist Party in December 2003. In 2005 he lost his Westminster Parliamentary seat. Burnside successfully retained his Assembly seat in March 2007. He declined to contest the2005 leadership election.

Burnside resigned as an Assembly Member in June 2009 to concentrate on his business interests. His seat was taken by Antrim councillorDanny Kinahan.

David Burnside was revealed to have taken a group of prominent Russians, including a close ally of Vladimir Putin, to the 2013 Conservative summer fundraising party and introduced them to David Cameron.

Rangers Football Club

Burnside was linked to a potentialRangerstakeover in 2007but nothing came of it. There was not enough investment available for the move.

Sources

• Gregory, Martyn.Dirty Tricks: British Airways' Secret War Against Virgin Atlantic.London: Virgin, 2000.ISBN0-7535-0458-8
• BBC Profile
• Glasgow Rangers Burnside Article
• Maiden Speech: House of Commons - 26 June 2001

External links

• Hansard1803–2005:contributions in Parliament by David Burnside