Michael McGimpsey
Encyclopedia
Michael McGimpsey MLA is an Ulster Unionist Party
(UUP) Member of the Legislative Assembly
for Belfast South
who has twice served in the Northern Ireland Executive
. Once seen as a successor to David Trimble
, McGimpsey served until 2011 as Northern Ireland's Health Minister with responsibility for nearly half of the NI Executive's budget.
McGimpsey was born in Donaghadee
, County Down
and was educated in Regent House Grammar School
and Trinity College, Dublin
. He is a businessman aside from politics involved in property development. In the mid 1980s he came to prominence alongside his brother Christopher when they challenged the Anglo-Irish Agreement
by bringing a suit against the Irish government
in the High Court of the Republic of Ireland, arguing that the Agreement was invalid because it contradicted Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution of Ireland
(this argument was unusual coming from Unionists because of the traditional Unionist opposition to these two articles.) The case failed in the High Court, and again on appeal to the Supreme Court
.
McGimpsey's UUP office is located on Sandy Row
in South Belfast.
. For the 1996 Northern Ireland Forum election
McGimpsey was third on the UUP list. As a result he was not involved in the negotiations for the Belfast Agreement
. In 1998 McGimpsey was the first member to be elected for South Belfast
on the 5th count. to the Northern Ireland Assembly
. He was appointed to serve as Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure in the Northern Ireland Executive
from 1999 until the collapse of the Executive
in 2002. One of his achievements was the digitising of the Ulster Covenant by the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland.
. The eventual winner was Alan McFarland
who surprised many by beating Reg Empey
for the nomination although he failed to win the seat.
McGimpsey challenged sitting MP Martin Smyth
for the Ulster Unionist nomination for Belfast South and gained 43% of the valid poll. In light of anti-agreement Smyth's selection the then anti-agreement Democratic Unionist Party
(DUP) did not stand a candidate, but the pro-agreement Progressive Unionist Party
was prompted to put one up. McGimpsey, however endorsed Smyth.
constituency in the 2005 general election
following a close selection campaign against an unknown figure, Christopher Montgomery.
The Democratic Unionist Party
, for the first time in over twenty years, stood a candidate in the form of former policeman Jimmy Spratt
. In the battle between the two Unionist parties, both Smyth and former Ulster Unionist leader James Molyneaux
appeared in a photograph with Jimmy Spratt which was included in his election literature. While Smyth subsequently claimed that this was "just a photo" that did not constitute an endorsement, "two Ulster Unionists had let it be known in the most public fashion that they preferred an unknown DUP candidate to the man selected by their own party". When the results were declared the poll was split three ways, with Social Democratic and Labour Party
politician and part-time GP, Alasdair McDonnell
winning the seat. Such an eventuality had been anticipated before the election in discussions between the UUP and DUP about an election pact involving Fermanagh and South Tyrone
and Belfast South amongst other constituencies. David Burnside
is known to have favoured the pact benefiting Tom Elliott
, as he felt that Elliott could unite Unionists in Fermanagh and South Tyrone more readily than McGimpsey could in South Belfast.
One of his key achievements to date as Minister for Health has been the introduction of free prescriptions on 1 April 2010. He described this as 'an end to the tax on illness in Northern Ireland'. This brought Northern Ireland into line with Wales while Scotland is phasing out charges.
of March 2007 McGimpsey retained his seat but the UUP's vote in South Belfast fell from 27.0% in 2003 to 18.4% of the popular vote in 2007, which resulted in the party losing its second seat, originally held by Esmond Birnie
, which was picked up by Anna Lo
of the Alliance Party
and at one stage talked of as a future leader of the Ulster Unionist Party. Politically McGimpsey is seen as being on the left of the Ulster Unionists and is a member of the Unionist Labour Group.
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) Member of the Legislative Assembly
Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly
The Northern Ireland Assembly elected in November 2003, never met as such, since Northern Ireland's devolved government and representative institutions were suspended following the re-introduction of direct rule by the United Kingdom government on 14 October 2002....
for Belfast South
Belfast South (Assembly constituency)
Belfast South is a constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly.The seat was first used for a Northern Ireland-only election for the Northern Ireland Assembly, 1973...
who has twice served in the Northern Ireland Executive
Northern Ireland Executive
The Northern Ireland Executive is the executive arm of the Northern Ireland Assembly, the devolved legislature for Northern Ireland. It is answerable to the Assembly and was established according to the terms of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, which followed the Good Friday Agreement...
. Once seen as a successor to 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...
, McGimpsey served until 2011 as Northern Ireland's Health Minister with responsibility for nearly half of the NI Executive's budget.
McGimpsey was born in Donaghadee
Donaghadee
Donaghadee is a small town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the northeast coast of the Ards Peninsula, about east of Belfast and about six miles south east of Bangor. It had a population of 6,470 people in the 2001 Census...
, County Down
County Down
-Cities:*Belfast *Newry -Large towns:*Dundonald*Newtownards*Bangor-Medium towns:...
and was educated in Regent House Grammar School
Regent House Grammar School
Regent House Grammar School is a co-ed voluntary grammar school situated in Newtownards, County Down, Northern Ireland. It comprises two parts: the preparatory department, known as "the Prep" and the main school itself...
and Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...
. He is a businessman aside from politics involved in property development. In the mid 1980s he came to prominence alongside his brother Christopher when they challenged 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...
by bringing a suit against the Irish government
Irish Government
The Government of Ireland is the cabinet that exercises executive authority in Ireland.-Members of the Government:Membership of the Government is regulated fundamentally by the Constitution of Ireland. The Government is headed by a prime minister called the Taoiseach...
in the High Court of the Republic of Ireland, arguing that the Agreement was invalid because it contradicted Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution of Ireland
Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution of Ireland
Article 2 and Article 3 of the Constitution of Ireland were adopted with the constitution as a whole on 29 December 1937, but completely revised by means of the Nineteenth Amendment which took effect on 2 December 1999...
(this argument was unusual coming from Unionists because of the traditional Unionist opposition to these two articles.) The case failed in the High Court, and again on appeal to the Supreme Court
Supreme Court (Ireland)
The Supreme Court of Ireland is the highest judicial authority in the Republic of Ireland. It is a court of final appeal and exercises, in conjunction with the High Court, judicial review over Acts of the Oireachtas . The Court also has jurisdiction to ensure compliance with the Constitution of...
.
McGimpsey's UUP office is located on Sandy Row
Sandy Row
Sandy Row is a Protestant working-class community in south Belfast, Northern Ireland. It has a population of about 3,000. It is a staunchly loyalist area of Belfast, being a traditional heartland for affiliation with the paramilitary Ulster Defence Association and the Orange Order.-Location:Sandy...
in South Belfast.
Early political career
In 1993 he was first elected to Belfast City CouncilBelfast City Council
Belfast City Council is the local authority with responsibility for the city of Belfast, the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland. The Council serves an estimated population of , the largest of any district council in Northern Ireland, while also being the fourth smallest by area...
. For the 1996 Northern Ireland Forum election
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....
McGimpsey was third on the UUP list. As a result he was not involved in the negotiations for the Belfast 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 1998 McGimpsey was the first member to be elected for South Belfast
Belfast South (Assembly constituency)
Belfast South is a constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly.The seat was first used for a Northern Ireland-only election for the Northern Ireland Assembly, 1973...
on the 5th count. to the Northern Ireland Assembly
Northern Ireland Assembly
The Northern Ireland Assembly is the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and to appoint the Northern Ireland Executive...
. He was appointed to serve as Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure in the Northern Ireland Executive
Northern Ireland Executive
The Northern Ireland Executive is the executive arm of the Northern Ireland Assembly, the devolved legislature for Northern Ireland. It is answerable to the Assembly and was established according to the terms of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, which followed the Good Friday Agreement...
from 1999 until the collapse of the Executive
Northern Ireland Executive
The Northern Ireland Executive is the executive arm of the Northern Ireland Assembly, the devolved legislature for Northern Ireland. It is answerable to the Assembly and was established according to the terms of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, which followed the Good Friday Agreement...
in 2002. One of his achievements was the digitising of the Ulster Covenant by the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland.
North Down by-election, 1995
McGimpsey was one of five candidates to stand for the Ulster Unionist nomination in the 1995 by-election following the death of Sir Jim KilfedderJames Kilfedder
Sir James Alexander Kilfedder was a Northern Ireland unionist politician.-Early life:...
. The eventual winner was Alan McFarland
Alan McFarland
Major Robert Alan McFarland, MLA was an Independent Unionist politician and MLA for North Down in Northern Ireland. He lost his Assembly seat in the 2011 election....
who surprised many by beating Reg Empey
Reg Empey
Reginald Norman Morgan Empey, Baron Empey of Shandon, OBE, – known as Sir Reg Empey prior to 2011 – is a former Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party and Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for East Belfast...
for the nomination although he failed to win the seat.
2001
In the run-up to the 2001 UK general electionUnited Kingdom general election, 2001
The United Kingdom general election, 2001 was held on Thursday 7 June 2001 to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. It was dubbed "the quiet landslide" by the media, as the Labour Party was re-elected with another landslide result and only suffered a net loss of 6 seats...
McGimpsey challenged sitting MP 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...
for the Ulster Unionist nomination for Belfast South and gained 43% of the valid poll. In light of anti-agreement Smyth's selection the then anti-agreement 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...
(DUP) did not stand a candidate, but the pro-agreement Progressive Unionist Party
Progressive Unionist Party
The Progressive Unionist Party is a small unionist political party in Northern Ireland. It was formed from the Independent Unionist Group operating in the Shankill area of Belfast, becoming the PUP in 1979...
was prompted to put one up. McGimpsey, however endorsed Smyth.
2005
In 2005 the sitting UUP MP Martin Smyth retired and McGimpsey was selected as the official UUP candidate for the south BelfastBelfast South (UK Parliament constituency)
Belfast South is a Parliamentary Constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons.-Boundaries:The seat was created in 1922 when, as part of the establishment of the devolved Stormont Parliament for Northern Ireland, the number of MPs in the Westminster Parliament was drastically cut...
constituency 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....
following a close selection campaign against an unknown figure, Christopher Montgomery.
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...
, for the first time in over twenty years, stood a candidate in the form of former policeman 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...
. In the battle between the two Unionist parties, both Smyth and former Ulster Unionist leader James Molyneaux
James Molyneaux
James Henry Molyneaux, Baron Molyneaux of Killead, KBE, PC is a Northern Irish Unionist politician and was leader of the Ulster Unionist Party from 1979 to 1995. He was a leading member and sometime Vice-President of the Conservative Monday Club...
appeared in a photograph with Jimmy Spratt which was included in his election literature. While Smyth subsequently claimed that this was "just a photo" that did not constitute an endorsement, "two Ulster Unionists had let it be known in the most public fashion that they preferred an unknown DUP candidate to the man selected by their own party". When the results were declared the poll was split three ways, with 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...
politician and part-time GP, 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...
winning the seat. Such an eventuality had been anticipated before the election in discussions between the UUP and DUP about an election pact involving Fermanagh and South Tyrone
Fermanagh and South Tyrone (UK Parliament constituency)
Fermanagh and South Tyrone is a Parliamentary constituency in the British House of Commons. The current MP for the constituency is Michelle Gildernew of Sinn Féin....
and Belfast South amongst other constituencies. David Burnside
David Burnside
David Wilson Boyd Burnside is a Northern Ireland politician, and was Ulster Unionist Party Member of Parliament for South Antrim....
is known to have favoured the pact benefiting Tom Elliott
Tom Elliott
Tom Elliott MLA is a Northern Ireland Ulster Unionist MLA and the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party and former UDR member...
, as he felt that Elliott could unite Unionists in Fermanagh and South Tyrone more readily than McGimpsey could in South Belfast.
2010
In December 2009, McGimpsey ruled himself out from standing in South Belfast in the 2010 General Election, saying that he felt he would best serve his constituents by continuing to work as Minister for Health.One of his key achievements to date as Minister for Health has been the introduction of free prescriptions on 1 April 2010. He described this as 'an end to the tax on illness in Northern Ireland'. This brought Northern Ireland into line with Wales while Scotland is phasing out charges.
2007 Assembly election
In the Assembly electionNorthern Ireland Assembly election, 2007
The third elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly were held on 7 March 2007 when 108 new members were elected. The election saw endorsement of the St Andrews Agreement and the two largest parties, the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Féin, along with the Alliance Party, increase their...
of March 2007 McGimpsey retained his seat but the UUP's vote in South Belfast fell from 27.0% in 2003 to 18.4% of the popular vote in 2007, which resulted in the party losing its second seat, originally held by Esmond Birnie
Esmond Birnie
Dr John Esmond Birnie, is an author, economist, and Ulster Unionist Party politician. He is a former Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for South Belfast....
, which was picked up by Anna Lo
Anna Lo
Anna Manwah Lo MBE is an Alliance Party politician in Northern Ireland. Born in Hong Kong, of Chinese ethnicity, Lo was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly for South Belfast in the 2007 assembly election...
of the Alliance Party
Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland is a liberal and nonsectarian political party in Northern Ireland. It is Northern Ireland's fifth-largest party overall, with eight seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly and one in the House of Commons....
Ulster Unionist Party
McGimpsey was politically close to David TrimbleDavid 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 at one stage talked of as a future leader of the Ulster Unionist Party. Politically McGimpsey is seen as being on the left of the Ulster Unionists and is a member of the Unionist Labour Group.