William Alexander Fraser Agnew, known as Fraser Agnew, is a politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

 in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

.

After growing up in Ballyclare

Ballyclare

Ballyclare is a small town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 8,770 people in the 2001 Census...

, Agnew studied at the University of Ulster

University of Ulster

The University of Ulster is a multi-campus, co-educational university located in Northern Ireland. It is the largest single university in Ireland, discounting the federal National University of Ireland...

, Jordanstown

Jordanstown

Jordanstown is the name of a townland and electoral ward in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is within the urban area called Newtownabbey and the wider Newtownabbey Borough....

, Belfast Technical College and the College of Business Studies. He worked as a writer and architectural draughtsperson

Technical drawing

Technical drawing, also known as drafting or draughting, is the act and discipline of composing plans that visually communicate how something functions or has to be constructed.Drafting is the language of industry....

 and was elected to Newtownabbey Borough Council

Newtownabbey Borough Council

Newtownabbey Borough Council is a Local Council in County Antrim in Northern Ireland. Newtownabbey has a population of over 80,000 and is on the north shore of Belfast Lough just immediately north of Belfast. The Borough was founded in 1958 as a result of an Act of Parliament passed in 1957 and...

 as an Ulster Unionist Party

Ulster Unionist Party

The Ulster Unionist Party – sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or, in a historic sense, simply the Unionist Party – is the more moderate of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland...

 (UUP) representative in 1980. Agnew was also elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly, 1982

Northern Ireland Assembly, 1982

The Northern Ireland Assembly established in 1982 represented an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to restore the devolution to Northern Ireland which had been suspended 10 years previously. The Assembly was abolished in 1986.-Origins:...

.

In 1990, Agnew served as the Mayor of Newtownabbey. In the early 1990s, he left the UUP and was later re-elected as an independent Unionist

Independent Unionist

See also Independent .Independent Unionist has been a label sometimes used by candidates in elections in the United Kingdom, indicating a support for Unionism, retaining the unity of the British state....

. He was elected under this label at the Northern Ireland Assembly election, 1998

Northern Ireland Assembly election, 1998

-Seats summary:-Details:Although the SDLP won the most first preference votes, the Ulster Unionists won the most seats in the Assembly. This has been attributed to several reasons, including:...

, when he formed the United Unionist Coalition

United Unionist Coalition

The United Unionist Coalition, formerly known as the United Unionist Assembly Party, was formed by three unionist members of the Northern Ireland Assembly who were elected as "independent unionists" in 1998. They were Fraser Agnew, Boyd Douglas and Denis Watson...

 (UUC) with other anti-Good Friday Agreement unionists.

All three members of the UUC, including Agnew, lost their seats at the Northern Ireland Assembly election, 2003

Northern Ireland Assembly election, 2003

The second elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly, which at the time of the elections had been suspended for just over a year, were held on Wednesday 26 November 2003. Six members were elected by Single Transferable Vote from each of Northern Ireland's eighteen Westminster Parliamentary...

. He held his council seat for the UUC in 2005. In March 2007, he was awarded the Freedom of the Borough

Freedom of the City

Freedom of the City is an honour bestowed by some municipalities in Australia, Canada, Ireland, France, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain, the United Kingdom, Gibraltar and Rhodesia to esteemed members of its community and to organisations to be honoured, often for service to the community;...

 of Newtownabbey

Newtownabbey

Newtownabbey is a large town north of Belfast in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Sometimes considered to be a suburb of Belfast, it is separated from the rest of the city by Cavehill and Fortwilliam golf course...

. In January 2011, he rejoined the UUP.