| The Lord Maginnis of Drumglass | |
|---|---|
| Member of Parliament for Fermanagh and South Tyrone |
|
| In office 9 June 1983 – 7 June 2001 |
|
| Preceded by | Owen Carron |
| Succeeded by | Michelle Gildernew |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 21 January 1938 |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Ulster Unionist Party |
| Alma mater | Royal School Dungannon |
Kenneth Wiggins Maginnis, Baron Maginnis of Drumglass (born 21 January 1938) is a Northern Irish Ulster Unionist politician who sits in the House of Lords. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Fermanagh and South Tyrone from 1983 to 2001.
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Maginnis was educated at the Royal School Dungannon, Dungannon, and Stranmillis College in Belfast, he worked as a teacher for a number of years before joining the Ulster Defence Regiment in 1971. After leaving the Army with the rank of Major in 1981, he became Ulster Unionist spokesman on internal security and defence, and was that same year elected to Dungannon District Council, on which he sat for twelve years until he lost his seat in 1993 when he was eliminated by less than 1 vote (0.74 votes).
Maginnis was the Ulster Unionist candidate for Fermanagh and South Tyrone in the second by-election in 1981, coming second. This by-election came about with the death of Bobby Sands on hunger strike. As a result of changes to the electoral law with the passing of the Representation of the People Act 1981, another hunger striker could not be nominated. Instead Owen Carron, who had served as Sands' election agent in the earlier election, was nominated and elected as a "Anti-H-Block Proxy Political Prisoner".
The following year, he was elected to the failed Northern Ireland Assembly, as a representative for the same constituency. At the 1983 general election he was returned to the House of Commons as the Member of Parliament, again for the same constituency. Two years later, along with the rest of his Unionist colleagues, he resigned his seat in protest at the Anglo-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.
He was a strong supporter of the Good Friday Agreement, and stood down as an MP at the 2001 General Election, being created a life peer as Baron Maginnis of Drumglass, of Carnteel in the County of Tyrone that same year.
He renewed his membership of Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough Council in 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 the UUP vote. This strategy backfired and he again lost his seat.
He currently sits as a UUP Peer in the House of Lords.
Maginnis was perceived to be on the more social liberal wing of the UUP along with Lady Hermon. He is one of only three MPs in the Ulster Unionist Party's history not to have been a member of the Orange Order (the other two being Enoch Powell and Lady Hermon), although he was a member of the Apprentice Boys of Derry.[1]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Owen Carron |
Member of Parliament for Fermanagh and South Tyrone 1983–2001 |
Succeeded by Michelle Gildernew |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Jack Allen |
Honorary Treasurer of the Ulster Unionist Party 2005 - 2008 |
Succeeded by Cllr Mark Cosgrove |