James Molyneaux
Encyclopedia
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
, PC
Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...
(born 27 August 1920) is a Northern Irish Unionist politician and was leader of 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...
from 1979 to 1995. He was a leading member and sometime Vice-President of the Conservative Monday Club
Conservative Monday Club
The Conservative Monday Club is a British pressure group "on the right-wing" of the Conservative Party.-Overview:...
. An Orangeman
Orange Institution
The Orange Institution is a Protestant fraternal organisation based mainly in Northern Ireland and Scotland, though it has lodges throughout the Commonwealth and United States. The Institution was founded in 1796 near the village of Loughgall in County Armagh, Ireland...
, he was also Sovereign Grand Master of the Royal Black Institution from 1971 to 1995.
Born in Killead
Killead
Killead is a small village in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is near Aldergrove and Antrim. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 78 people.The village is near Belfast International Airport and is accessed from the A26 Tully Road.-People:...
, County Antrim
County Antrim
County Antrim is one of six counties that form Northern Ireland, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of 2,844 km², with a population of approximately 616,000...
, Molyneaux was educated at nearby Aldergrove School before serving in the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
between 1941 and 1946. He participated in the liberation of the Belsen concentration camp, and has occasionally given interviews about what he saw there.
As a child he briefly attended a local Catholic primary school, and is alleged to have expressed the view that the Catholic Church made a mistake in abandoning the Tridentine Rite. When a Catholic church near his home was burnt down by loyalist arsonists in the late 1990s, Molyneaux helped to raise funds for its rebuilding.
During the 1960s and 1970s, he served on Antrim County Council as well as a number of committees concerning local healthcare, and in 1970 was elected Ulster Unionist Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for South Antrim
South Antrim (UK Parliament constituency)
South Antrim is a Parliamentary Constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons.-Boundaries:From 1885, this constituency was one of four county divisions of the former Antrim constituency...
. In October 1974, Molyneaux became leader of the Ulster Unionists in the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
, and between 1982 and 1986 he sat as an Ulster Unionist member for South Antrim in the failed Northern Ireland Assembly. He was admitted to the Privy Council
Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...
in 1982. Following boundary changes that divided South Antrim, he became member for the new seat of Lagan Valley
Lagan Valley (UK Parliament constituency)
Lagan Valley is a Parliamentary Constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons.- Boundaries :The seat was created in 1983, as part of an expansion of Northern Ireland's constituencies from 12 to 17, and was predominantly made up from parts of South Antrim and North Down. In their original...
in 1983. In 1985, he resigned his seat along with his Unionist colleagues in the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
in protest at the Anglo-Irish Agreement
Anglo-Irish Agreement
The Anglo-Irish Agreement was an agreement between the United Kingdom and Ireland which aimed to help bring an end to the Troubles in Northern Ireland...
, and was re-elected in the subsequent by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
.
Molyneaux was generally regarded as a member of the integrationist tendency within Ulster Unionism (favouring direct rule from Westminster with some extension of local government powers, as opposed to the devolutionist preference for a revived Northern Ireland parliament or assembly). This preference was widely attributed to the influence of Enoch Powell
Enoch Powell
John Enoch Powell, MBE was a British politician, classical scholar, poet, writer, and soldier. He served as a Conservative Party MP and Minister of Health . He attained most prominence in 1968, when he made the controversial Rivers of Blood speech in opposition to mass immigration from...
. Critics within his party saw Molyneux as a do-nothing leader, unduly deferential towards the Conservative Party (leading him to be taken by surprise by the 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement
Anglo-Irish Agreement
The Anglo-Irish Agreement was an agreement between the United Kingdom and Ireland which aimed to help bring an end to the Troubles in Northern Ireland...
and overshadowed by Ian Paisley
Ian Paisley
Ian Richard Kyle Paisley, Baron Bannside, PC is a politician and church minister in Northern Ireland. As the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party , he and Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness were elected First Minister and deputy First Minister respectively on 8 May 2007.In addition to co-founding...
. Molyneaux's defenders would argue that his primary concern was party unity, that the UUP was so divided that only a minimalist policy could hold it together, and that the correctness of this perception was shown by the party's disintegration under David Trimble
David Trimble
William David Trimble, Baron Trimble, PC , is a politician from Northern Ireland. He served as Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party , was the first First Minister of Northern Ireland , and was a Member of the British Parliament . He is currently a life peer for the Conservative Party...
.
Throughout the 1980s he was an active MP member and Vice-President of the Conservative Monday Club
Conservative Monday Club
The Conservative Monday Club is a British pressure group "on the right-wing" of the Conservative Party.-Overview:...
. In the Club's newspaper, Right Ahead, the October 1985 Conservative Party Conference issue, Molyneaux contributed a lengthy article entitled 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...
- Ulster
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...
belongs to Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
NOT to the Irish Republic
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
.
In 1995 he was challenged for the leadership of the Ulster Unionists
Ulster Unionist Party leadership election, March 1995
The March 1995 Ulster Unionist Party leadership election occurred at the Annual General Meeting of the Ulster Unionist Council on 18 March 1995. The UUP has had a leadership election every March since at least 1973, and this is one of the few occasions when it has been contested.-Candidates:*James...
by a 21 year old student and, although winning easily, saw a strong protest vote against his leadership registered. Following the Ulster Unionists' poor showing in the 1995 North Down by-election
North Down by-election, 1995
The North Down by-election, in the North Down constituency, was held on 15 June 1995, following the death of James Kilfedder, who had represented the constituency since the 1970 general election...
, Molyneaux yielded to renewed pressure to retire as leader. On retiring as Ulster Unionist leader he was knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
ed as a KBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
in 1996. The following year, after standing down as an MP at the 1997 General Election
United Kingdom general election, 1997
The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...
, he was created a life peer
Life peer
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the Peerage whose titles cannot be inherited. Nowadays life peerages, always of baronial rank, are created under the Life Peerages Act 1958 and entitle the holders to seats in the House of Lords, presuming they meet qualifications such as...
as Baron Molyneaux of Killead, of Killead in the County of Antrim.
On several occasions in his retirement he was publicly critical of his successor as leader, David Trimble
David Trimble
William David Trimble, Baron Trimble, PC , is a politician from Northern Ireland. He served as Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party , was the first First Minister of Northern Ireland , and was a Member of the British Parliament . He is currently a life peer for the Conservative Party...
, and fiercely opposed the Good Friday Agreement
Belfast Agreement
The Good Friday Agreement or Belfast Agreement , sometimes called the Stormont Agreement, was a major political development in the Northern Ireland peace process...
. In 2003 Molyneaux supported half the Ulster Unionist MPs - David Burnside
David Burnside
David Wilson Boyd Burnside is a Northern Ireland politician, and was Ulster Unionist Party Member of Parliament for South Antrim....
, Jeffrey Donaldson
Jeffrey Donaldson
Jeffrey Mark Donaldson, MP is a Northern Irish politician and Member of Parliament for Lagan Valley belonging to the Democratic Unionist Party...
and Martin Smyth
Martin Smyth
Reverend William Martin Smyth is a Northern Irish unionist politician, and was Ulster Unionist Party Member of Parliament for Belfast South from 1982-2005...
- when they resigned the party whip in protest against the leadership of Trimble and the continuing support for the Agreement. In the 2005 general election
United Kingdom general election, 2005
The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....
Molyneaux caused a storm when he and Smyth endorsed the Democratic Unionist Party
Democratic Unionist Party
The Democratic Unionist Party is the larger of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland. Founded by Ian Paisley and currently led by Peter Robinson, it is currently the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly and the fourth-largest party in the House of Commons of the...
candidate Jimmy Spratt
Jimmy Spratt
Jimmy Spratt is a Unionist politician from Northern Ireland.In 2007, he was elected as a Democratic Unionist Party member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for South Belfast. He chairs the Assembly and Executive Review Committee, is one of the DUP representatives on the Northern Ireland Policing...
over 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...
candidate Michael McGimpsey
Michael McGimpsey
Michael McGimpsey MLA is an Ulster Unionist Party Member of the Legislative Assembly for Belfast South who has twice served in the Northern Ireland Executive...
in South Belfast, the seat Smyth was retiring from. Molyneaux also endorsed Donaldson, his successor as MP for Lagan Valley, even though Donaldson had now defected to the DUP. However he also endorsed some Ulster Unionists, most notably Burnside in South Antrim. In the election Donaldson held his seat for his new party by a large majority whilst Spratt outpolled McGimpsey (though losing to the SDLP
Social Democratic and Labour Party
The Social Democratic and Labour Party is a social-democratic, Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. Its basic party platform advocates Irish reunification, and the further devolution of powers while Northern Ireland remains part of the United Kingdom...
candidate Alasdair McDonnell
Alasdair McDonnell
Dr Alasdair McDonnell is an Irish politician, Leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party and both a Member of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and a Member of the Legislative Assembly for South Belfast. On 5 November, 2011, he was elected as the new leader of the SDLP.-Early...
on a split vote) and many asserted that Molyneaux and Smyth's endorsements had contributed to the UUP's disastrous showing. However Burnside lost his seat.
See also
- List of Northern Ireland Members of the House of Lords
- List of Northern Ireland members of the Privy Council