Jim Speers, known as Jim Speers, is a Unionist 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...

.

Speers works as a businessman and part-time farmer

Farmer

A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, who raises living organisms for food or raw materials, generally including livestock husbandry and growing crops, such as produce and grain...

. He was elected to Armagh City and District Council

Armagh City and District Council

Armagh City and District Council is a district council in County Armagh in Northern Ireland. It includes the city of Armagh, as well as the surrounding area and its population is about 54,000. City status was officially conferred in 1995...

 in 1977 for 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...

 (UUP).

Seamus Mallon

Seamus Mallon

Seamus Frederick Mallon born 17 August 1936, in Markethill, County Armagh, is an Irish politician and former Deputy Leader of the nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party in Northern Ireland...

, a Social Democratic and Labour Party

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...

 (SDLP) member of 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:...

 was disqualified because he had been a member of the Irish Seanad at the time of his election. A by-election was held in April 1983 for Mallon's seat in Armagh

Armagh (Assembly constituency)

Armagh was a constituency used for the Northern Ireland Assembly.The seat was first used for a Northern Ireland-only election for the Northern Ireland Assembly, 1973. Members were then elected from the constituency to the 1975 Constitutional Convention and the 1982 Assembly...

. The SDLP called on voters to boycott the election

Election boycott

An election boycott is the boycotting of an election by a group of voters, each of whom abstains from voting.Boycotting may be used as a form of political protest where voters feel that electoral fraud is likely, or that the electoral system is biased against its candidates, or that the polity...

, which Speers contested as the UUP candidate. He easily beat the only other candidate, Tom French

Tom French (politician)

Tom French is a former President of the Workers' Party of Ireland and former member of Craigavon Borough Council.Born in Belfast in 1934, French joined Sinn Féin as a youth and remained with the party as it evolved into the Workers' Party....

 of the Workers' Party

Workers' Party of Ireland

The Workers' Party is a left-wing republican political party in Ireland. Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970 after a split within the party, adopting its current name in 1982....

, and served on the Assembly until it was abolished in 1986.

Speers contested Newry and Armagh

Newry and Armagh (UK Parliament constituency)

Newry and Armagh is a Parliamentary Constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons.-Boundaries:The seat was created in boundary changes in 1983, as part of an expansion of Northern Ireland's constituencies from 12 to 17, and was predominantly made up from the old Armagh constituency with the...

 at the United Kingdom general election, 1992

United Kingdom general election, 1992

The United Kingdom general election of 1992 was held on 9 April 1992, and was the fourth consecutive victory for the Conservative Party. This election result was one of the biggest surprises in 20th Century politics, as polling leading up to the day of the election showed Labour under leader Neil...

, and took second place, with 36% of the vote. In 1996, he was elected to the Northern Ireland Forum

Northern Ireland Forum

The Northern Ireland Forum was a body set up in 1996 as part of a process of negotiations that eventually led to the Belfast Agreement in 1998....

, as a UUP representative for Newry and Armagh

Newry and Armagh (Assembly constituency)

Newry and Armagh is a constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly.The seat was first used for a Northern Ireland-only election for the Northern Ireland Forum in 1996. Since 1998, it has elected members to the current Assembly....

. However, he failed to take a seat 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:...

.

Speers later served on the Northern Ireland Tourist Board

Northern Ireland Tourist Board

The Northern Ireland Tourist Board is a non-departmental public body of the Department of Enterprise Trade and Investment. Its primary objective is to promote Northern Ireland as a tourist destination....

, and is the Chairperson of the UUP's Newry & Armagh Constituency Association, while continuing to sit on Armagh Council.