Robert Bradford (NI politician)
Encyclopedia
Robert Jonathan Bradford MP (8 June 1941 – 14 November 1981) was a Vanguard Unionist and Ulster Unionist Member of Parliament
for the Belfast South
constituency in Northern Ireland
until he was killed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army
on 14 November 1981.
family resident in Limavady
due to the wartime evacuation
. Bradford's father left the family not long after his birth and his mother died so he was raised by foster parents. A talented footballer
, Bradford signed for Glenavon F.C.
as a teenager and his displays soon attracted the attentions of top English side Sheffield Wednesday F.C, who invited him to a trial. However, Bradford was not signed by the club and returned to Northern Ireland to resume his career with the then Belfast-based club Distillery.
minister. After spending the rest of the 1960s attached to congregations in East Belfast and Fivemiletown
, Bradford was fully ordained in 1970 and given his own parish in the Suffolk area of South-west Belfast. Bradford would later be removed from post in the late 1970s and would spend the final years of his life without a church. During these years he came to spend time in the 'Bible belt
' of the United States
and became associated with Evangelicalism
. Nevertheless Bradford claimed to always remain at heart a Methodist and also rejected suggestions that he was to join Ian Paisley's
Free Presbyterian Church
(which he never did).
. From here he became more involved in the political side of the movement and stood as a candidate for the Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party
in the Northern Ireland Assembly election, 1973
in South Antrim
, although he was not elected.
Bradford was first elected as Member of Parliament for South Belfast in the February 1974 British general election
, this time under the banner of the United Ulster Unionist Council
(an alliance between the Vanguard, the Democratic Unionist Party
and the anti-Brian Faulkner
Ulster Unionists under Harry West
), defeating the sitting MP Rafton Pounder
, a pro-Faulkner Unionist. His campaign had been openly supported by the British National Front
and, at a September 1974 NF Rally, Martin Webster
read out a letter of solidarity from Bradford.
Bradford greatly increased his majority in the October election
, after Pounder dropped out, and largely maintained this increased majority in 1979
. Between 1974 and 1978 he sat for the Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party
until in February 1978 he joined the Ulster Unionist Party (then commonly called the Official Unionist Party), along with Vanguard leader William Craig and most of the membership. He was re-elected in 1979 for the UUP.
on 14 November 1981 in a community centre in Finaghy
, Belfast
, while hosting a political surgery
. Kenneth Campbell, the 29 year old Protestant caretaker in the centre, was also shot dead in the attack.
The Taoiseach
Garret FitzGerald
made an expression of sympathy in the Dáil Éireann
saying:
His seat was won by Martin Smyth
, also of the Ulster Unionists, in a by-election
in 1982. A book about Bradford's life, A Sword Bathed in Heaven, was written by his widow, Norah, in 1984, dealing largely with his path to Methodism, although also examining his political career.
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 the Belfast South
Belfast 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 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...
until he was killed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
on 14 November 1981.
Footballer
Bradford was born on 8 June 1941 to a BelfastBelfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
family resident in Limavady
Limavady
Limavady is a market town in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, with Binevenagh as a backdrop. It lies east of Derry and south west of Coleraine. It had a population of 12,135 people in the 2001 Census, an increase of some 17% compared to 1991...
due to the wartime evacuation
Evacuations of civilians in Britain during World War II
Evacuation of civilians in Britain during the Second World War was designed to save the population of urban or military areas in the United Kingdom from aerial bombing of cities and military targets such as docks. Civilians, particularly children, were moved to areas thought to be less at risk....
. Bradford's father left the family not long after his birth and his mother died so he was raised by foster parents. A talented footballer
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
, Bradford signed for Glenavon F.C.
Glenavon F.C.
Glenavon F.C. is a semi-professional, Northern Irish football club playing in the IFA Premiership. The club, founded in 1889, hails from Lurgan and plays its home matches at Mourneview Park...
as a teenager and his displays soon attracted the attentions of top English side Sheffield Wednesday F.C, who invited him to a trial. However, Bradford was not signed by the club and returned to Northern Ireland to resume his career with the then Belfast-based club Distillery.
Religion
Bradford gave up football in 1964, after deciding to train to become a MethodistMethodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
minister. After spending the rest of the 1960s attached to congregations in East Belfast and Fivemiletown
Fivemiletown
Fivemiletown is a village and townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is 16 miles east of Enniskillen and 26 miles west-south-west of Dungannon, on the A4 Enniskillen-to-Dungannon road. Its population as of 2009 is estimated to be 1,128. The village is most famous for its creamery, which...
, Bradford was fully ordained in 1970 and given his own parish in the Suffolk area of South-west Belfast. Bradford would later be removed from post in the late 1970s and would spend the final years of his life without a church. During these years he came to spend time in the 'Bible belt
Bible Belt
Bible Belt is an informal term for a region in the southeastern and south-central United States in which socially conservative evangelical Protestantism is a significant part of the culture and Christian church attendance across the denominations is generally higher than the nation's average.The...
' of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and became associated with Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
. Nevertheless Bradford claimed to always remain at heart a Methodist and also rejected suggestions that he was to join Ian Paisley's
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...
Free Presbyterian Church
Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster
The Free Presbyterian Church is a Presbyterian denomination founded by the Rev. Ian Paisley in 1951. Most of its members live in Northern Ireland...
(which he never did).
Political career
Bradford first became involved with unionism in 1971 when he joined the Orange OrderOrange 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...
. From here he became more involved in the political side of the movement and stood as a candidate for the Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party
Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party
The Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party , informally known as Ulster Vanguard, was a unionist political party which existed in Northern Ireland between 1973 and 1978...
in the Northern Ireland Assembly election, 1973
Northern Ireland Assembly election, 1973
-Seats summary:-Source:* http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/fa73.htm...
in South Antrim
South Antrim (Assembly constituency)
South Antrim 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...
, although he was not elected.
Bradford was first elected as Member of Parliament for South Belfast in the February 1974 British general election
United Kingdom general election, February 1974
The United Kingdom's general election of February 1974 was held on the 28th of that month. It was the first of two United Kingdom general elections held that year, and the first election since the Second World War not to produce an overall majority in the House of Commons for the winning party,...
, this time under the banner of the United Ulster Unionist Council
United Ulster Unionist Council
The United Ulster Unionist Council was a body that sought to bring together the Unionists opposed to the Sunningdale Agreement in Northern Ireland.-Formation:The UUUC was established in January 1974...
(an alliance between the Vanguard, 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...
and the anti-Brian Faulkner
Brian Faulkner
Arthur Brian Deane Faulkner, Baron Faulkner of Downpatrick, PC was the sixth and last Prime Minister of Northern Ireland from March 1971 until his resignation in March 1972...
Ulster Unionists under Harry West
Harry West
Henry William West was a politician in Northern Ireland who served as leader of the Ulster Unionist Party from 1974 until 1979.West was born in County Fermanagh and educated at Portora Royal School in Enniskillen...
), defeating the sitting MP Rafton Pounder
Rafton Pounder
Rafton John Pounder was a Pro-Assembly Unionist and Conservative Party politician and in Northern Ireland.Born at Ballynahatty, Belfast, the son of Cuthbert Pounder, Rafton Pounder was educated at Charterhouse and at Christ's College, Cambridge, where he was Chairman of the Conservative...
, a pro-Faulkner Unionist. His campaign had been openly supported by the British National Front
British National Front
The National Front is a far right, white-only political party whose major political activities took place during the 1970s and 1980s. Its popularity peaked in the 1979 general election, when it received 191,719 votes ....
and, at a September 1974 NF Rally, Martin Webster
Martin Webster
Martin Guy Alan Webster is a former leading figure on the far-right in British politics.-Early political activism:An early member of the Young Conservatives, from which he claimed to have been expelled, Webster was associated loosely with the League of Empire Loyalists until he joined the National...
read out a letter of solidarity from Bradford.
Bradford greatly increased his majority in the October election
United Kingdom general election, October 1974
The United Kingdom general election of October 1974 took place on 10 October 1974 to elect 635 members to the British House of Commons. It was the second general election of that year and resulted in the Labour Party led by Harold Wilson, winning by a tiny majority of 3 seats.The election of...
, after Pounder dropped out, and largely maintained this increased majority in 1979
United Kingdom general election, 1979
The United Kingdom general election of 1979 was held on 3 May 1979 to elect 635 members to the British House of Commons. The Conservative Party, led by Margaret Thatcher ousted the incumbent Labour government of James Callaghan with a parliamentary majority of 43 seats...
. Between 1974 and 1978 he sat for the Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party
Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party
The Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party , informally known as Ulster Vanguard, was a unionist political party which existed in Northern Ireland between 1973 and 1978...
until in February 1978 he joined the Ulster Unionist Party (then commonly called the Official Unionist Party), along with Vanguard leader William Craig and most of the membership. He was re-elected in 1979 for the UUP.
Death
Bradford was shot dead - by the IRAProvisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
on 14 November 1981 in a community centre in Finaghy
Finaghy
Finaghy is an electoral ward in the Balmoral district of Belfast City Council, Northern Ireland. It is based on the townland of Ballyfinaghy...
, Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
, while hosting a political surgery
Surgery (politics)
A political surgery or clinic is a term used to describe a series of one-to-one meetings. A Member of Parliament may have with his or her constituents, at which a constituent may raise issues of local concern...
. Kenneth Campbell, the 29 year old Protestant caretaker in the centre, was also shot dead in the attack.
The Taoiseach
Taoiseach
The Taoiseach is the head of government or prime minister of Ireland. The Taoiseach is appointed by the President upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas , and must, in order to remain in office, retain the support of a majority in the Dáil.The current Taoiseach is...
Garret FitzGerald
Garret FitzGerald
Garret FitzGerald was an Irish politician who was twice Taoiseach of Ireland, serving in office from July 1981 to February 1982 and again from December 1982 to March 1987. FitzGerald was elected to Seanad Éireann in 1965 and was subsequently elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fine Gael TD in 1969. He...
made an expression of sympathy in the Dáil Éireann
Dáil Éireann
Dáil Éireann is the lower house, but principal chamber, of the Oireachtas , which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann . It is directly elected at least once in every five years under the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote...
saying:
His seat was won by 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...
, also of the Ulster Unionists, in a by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
in 1982. A book about Bradford's life, A Sword Bathed in Heaven, was written by his widow, Norah, in 1984, dealing largely with his path to Methodism, although also examining his political career.