Jim Speers

James Speers MBE (born 20 May 1946), known as Jim Speers, is a Unionist politician in Northern Ireland.

Speers works as a businessman and part-time farmer. He was elected to Armagh City and District Council in 1977 for the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP).^[1]

Seamus Mallon, a Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) member of the Northern Ireland Assembly, 1982 was disqualified because he had been a member of the Irish Seanad at the time of his election. A by-election was held in April 1983 for Mallon's seat in Armagh. The SDLP called on voters to boycott the election, which Speers contested as the UUP candidate. He easily beat the only other candidate, Tom French of the Workers' Party, and served on the Assembly until it was abolished in 1986.^[2]

Speers contested Newry and Armagh at the United Kingdom general election, 1992, and took second place, with 36% of the vote.^[3] In 1996, he was elected to the Northern Ireland Forum, as a UUP representative for Newry and Armagh. However, he failed to take a seat at the 1998 Northern Ireland Assembly election.^[4]

Speers later served on the Northern Ireland Tourist Board,^[1] and as of 2007 is the Chairperson of the UUP's Newry & Armagh Constituency Association,^[5] while continuing to sit on Armagh Council.

References

1. 1 2 "RE-APPOINTMENT TO THE NORTHERN IRELAND TOURIST BOARD", Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, 2 September 2003
2. ↑ A Chronology of the Conflict – 1983, CAIN Web Service
3. ↑ Newry and Armagh, 1983–1992, Northern Ireland Elections
4. ↑ Newry and Armagh, Northern Ireland Elections
5. ↑ About us, Newry and Armagh Ulster Unionist Constituency Association