John Carson (politician)

John Carson (born 1933) is a former Northern Ireland Ulster Unionist Party politician.

A draper who owned a shop in the interface area of the Duncairn Gardens in north Belfast, Carson was elected to Belfast City Council in 1973.^[1] The following year he was elected as a member of the United Ulster Unionist Coalition as Member of Parliament for Belfast North from 1974. However he was de-selected in 1979 after voting in favour of the Labour government in the crucial vote of confidence which they lost.^[2]

Despite this, he retained his popularity, topping the local government poll in the electoral area 'H' ^[1] which included over half of the parliamentary seat. He also topped the poll in North Belfast at the 1982 Assembly elections.^[2]

Carson was Lord Mayor of Belfast from 1985–6 and in his capacity as a councillor was sometimes at odds with his party colleagues. For example, he attended a City Hall lunch attended by the then Secretary of State Tom King despite the Unionist policy of boycotting meetings with Government ministers in protest at the Anglo-Irish Agreement.^[3] For this he was threatened with expulsion from the UUP, which never happened.^[3]

He remained a member of Belfast City Council until 1997 when he lost his seat after 24 consecutive years on the council. ^[1][4][5]

He married Martha in 1953 and had two daughters. They celebrated their Diamond Anniversary in 2013. ^[6]

References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/73-81lgbelfast.htm
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/cnb.htm
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Anglo-Irish Agreement issue
4. ↑ http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/lgbelfast.htm#castle
5. ↑ http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/85-89lgbelfast.htm
6. ↑

Sources

• The Times Guide to the House of Commons, Times Newspapers Ltd, October 1974
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs