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Jim Speers

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Jim Speers
Member ofArmagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council
In office
22 May 2014 – 18 May 2023
Preceded byCouncil created
Succeeded byKeith Ratcliffe
ConstituencyCusher
Member ofArmagh City and District Council
In office
15 May 1985 – 22 May 2014
Preceded byDistrict created
Succeeded byCouncil abolished
ConstituencyThe Orchard
In office
18 May 1977 – 20 May 1981
Preceded byNelson Huddleston
Succeeded byDistrict abolished
ConstituencyArmagh Area B
Member of theNorthern Ireland Forum
forNewry and Armagh
In office
30 May 1996 – 25 April 1998
Preceded byForum established
Succeeded byForum dissolved
Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly
forArmagh
In office
1983–1986
Preceded bySeamus Mallon
Succeeded byAssembly dissolved
Personal details
Born20 May 1946
County Armagh,Northern Ireland
Political partyUlster Unionist Party

James Alexander SpeersMBE(born 20 May 1946), known asJim Speers,is a Northern Irish farmer and formerUlster Unionist Party(UUP) politician, active inCounty Armagh.

Career[edit]

Speers works as a businessman and part-time farmer. He was elected toArmagh City and District Councilin 1977 for theUlster Unionist Party.[1]

He was an unsuccessful candidate at the1982 Northern Ireland Assembly election,but was elected to the Assembly the following year in a by-election caused by the disqualification ofSeamus Mallon,aSocial Democratic and Labour Party(SDLP) member of the1982 Northern Ireland Assembly,who had been a member ofSeanad Éireannat the time of his election.[2]The SDLP called on voters toboycott the election,which Speers contested as the UUP candidate. He easily beat the only other candidate,Tom Frenchof theWorkers' Party,and served on the Assembly until it was abolished in 1986.[3]

Speers contestedNewry and Armaghat the1992 United Kingdom general election,and took second place, with 36% of the vote.[4]In 1996, he was elected to theNorthern Ireland Forum,as a UUP representative forNewry and Armagh.However, he failed to take a seat at the1998 Northern Ireland Assembly election.[5]

Speers later served on theNorthern Ireland Tourist Board,[1]and as of 2007is the Chairperson of the UUP's Newry & Armagh Constituency Association,[6]while continuing to sit on Armagh Council.

References[edit]

  1. ^ab"RE-APPOINTMENT TO THE NORTHERN IRELAND TOURIST BOARD",Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment,2 September 2003
  2. ^Northern Ireland elections
  3. ^A Chronology of the Conflict – 1983,CAIN Web Service
  4. ^Newry and Armagh, 1983–1992,Northern Ireland Elections
  5. ^Newry and Armagh,Northern Ireland Elections
  6. ^About usArchived14 December 2006 at theWayback Machine,Newry and Armagh Ulster Unionist Constituency Association
Northern Ireland Assembly (1982)
Preceded by MPAforArmagh
1983–1986
Assembly abolished
Northern Ireland Forum
New forum Member forNewry and Armagh
1996–1998
Forum dissolved
Civic offices
Preceded by Mayor of Armagh
1996–1997
Succeeded by
Pat Brannigan
Preceded by
Thomas O'Hanlon
Mayor of Armagh
2010–2011
Succeeded by
Freda Donnelly