James Brown was a Unionist politician

Politician

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

 and journalist

Journalist

A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...

 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...

.

Brown stood as an independent

Independent (politician)

In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...

 Farmers and New Industries candidate in South Down

South Down (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)

South Down was a constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland.-Boundaries:South Down was a county constituency comprising part of southern County Down. It was created when the House of Commons Act 1929 introduced first-past-the-post elections throughout Northern Ireland...

 at the Northern Ireland general election, 1938

Northern Ireland general election, 1938

-References:*...

. The seat had previously elected Irish nationalists, but no nationalist candidate stood in 1938, and Brown easily beat his only opponent, a Northern Ireland Labour Party

Northern Ireland Labour Party

The Northern Ireland Labour Party was an Irish political party which operated from 1924 until 1987.In 1913 the British Labour Party resolved to give the recently formed Irish Labour Party exclusive organising rights in Ireland...

 candidate. He immediately took the 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...

 whip

Whip (politics)

A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy...

 in Parliament.

At the Northern Ireland general election, 1945, Brown contested Mourne

Mourne (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)

Mourne was a constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland.-Boundaries:Mourne was a county constituency comprising part of southern County Down, including the Mountains of Mourne. It was created when the House of Commons Act 1929 introduced first-past-the-post elections throughout Northern...

 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....

, but was defeated by the Nationalist Party

Nationalist Party (Northern Ireland)

The Nationalist Party† - was the continuation of the Irish Parliamentary Party, and was formed after partition, by the Northern Ireland-based members of the IPP....

 candidate James McSparran

James McSparran

James McSparran QC , was an Irish nationalist politician.McSparran was born in Glasgow to an Irish family He studied at St Mungo's Academy, Glasgow, then St Malachy's College in Belfast, Queen's University of Belfast, and the National University of Ireland.McSparran was appointed to the Irish Bar...

. He then stood for Down

Down (UK Parliament constituency)

Down was a UK Parliament constituency in Ireland. It was a two member constituency and existed in two periods, 1801-1885 and 1922-1950.-Boundaries:1801-1885: The whole of County Down, excluding the Boroughs of Downpatrick and Newry....

 at the 1945 Westminster general election. He came last out of four candidates, but took 19.1% of the vote and was less than 2,000 votes behind the last elected candidate.

A by-election was held in Down in 1946

Down by-election, 1946

The Down by-election was held on 6 June 1946, following the death of James Little, the independent Unionist Member of Parliament for Down.The Down constituency elected two members...

, and Brown again stood, this time as an independent "Democratic Unionist". He again placed last, his share of the vote shrinking to 2.2%.

Brown's final political contest was in South Down

South Down (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)

South Down was a constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland.-Boundaries:South Down was a county constituency comprising part of southern County Down. It was created when the House of Commons Act 1929 introduced first-past-the-post elections throughout Northern Ireland...

 at the Northern Ireland general election, 1958

Northern Ireland general election, 1958

-References:*-See also:*MPs elected in the Northern Ireland general election, 1958...

. For the first time, he stood as an official Ulster Unionist Party candidate, but he was not able to regain the seat.