Jeffrey Donaldson: Difference between revisions
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{{Infobox Politician |
{{Infobox Politician |
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| honorific-prefix = <small>[[The Right Honourable]]</small><br> |
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| name= |
| name=Jeffrey Donaldson |
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| honorific-suffix = [[Member of Parliament|MP]] [[Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly|MLA]] |
| honorific-suffix = [[Member of Parliament|MP]] [[Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly|MLA]] |
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| image=replace this image male.svg |
| image=replace this image male.svg |
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| width=200 |
| width=200 |
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| office =One of |
| office =[[Junior Ministers|One of the Two Junior Minister of]] [[Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister]] - |
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| term_start =[[February 26]] [[2008]] |
| term_start =[[February 26]] [[2008]] |
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Revision as of 01:28, 4 June 2008
Jeffrey Donaldson | |
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One of the Two Junior Minister of Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister - | |
Assumed office February 26 2008 | |
Member of Parliament for Lagan Valley | |
Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Lagan Valley | |
Personal details | |
Born | Kilkeel, Northern Ireland | December 7, 1962
Political party | Democratic Unionist Party |
Spouse | Eleanor Donaldson |
Website | http://www.jeffreydonaldson.org/ |
Jeffrey Mark Donaldson MP MLA (born 7 December 1962 in Kilkeel, County Down, Northern Ireland.) is a Northern Irish politician and Member of Parliament for Lagan Valley. He is best known for his opposition to Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) leader David Trimble during the Northern Ireland peace process, especially from 1998 to 2003.
Early life
Donaldson joined the Ulster Unionist Party and the Orange Order as a young man and later worked for the MP Enoch Powell.
Two of Donaldson's cousins were killed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army while serving in the Royal Ulster Constabulary: Sam Donaldson was killed in 1970 and Alex Donaldson, a Chief Inspector, died in a mortar attack on a Newry police station in 1985.[1]
Political career
Entering Politics
In 1985 he was elected in a by-election to the Northern Ireland Assembly. In 1996 he was first placed candidate on the UUP list for the 1996 forum elections, virtually guaranteeing him a seat. This led to his selection in 1997, for the Westminster Parliament where he was elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Lagan Valley constituency. At that time he was tipped as a potential future leader of the Ulster Unionist Party.[2][3]
Donaldson stated in Richard English's book, Armed Struggle: "A big part of the motivation for me in becoming actively involved in politics was the deep sense of injustice that I felt had been perpetrated against my people and specifically against my family and I wanted to do something about that. And that's why, at the age of 18, I did two things, I joined the Ulster Defence Regiment and I joined the Ulster Unionist Party, because I wanted to pursue, through the forces of the state and the forces of law and order, the IRA and to oppose their campaign. But I also wanted to be involved politically in opposing that campaign as well".[4]
Role in the Peace Process
In 1998 Donaldson was in the Ulster Unionists' negotiating team for the Good Friday Agreement.[5] However, he walked out of the delegation at the end of the negotiations in protest at some of the arrangements, notably the early release of political prisoners and the renaming of the Royal Ulster Constabulary to The Police Service of Northern Ireland.
Dissent in the UUP
Disagreements over the Good Friday Agreement negotiations planted the seeds of discontent between the figurehead of the anti-agreement faction of the UUP (Donaldson) and the party leader (Trimble). Donaldson was not allowed to stand in the 1998 assembly election as a party rule stopped MPs, apart from the leader and deputy leader, from going forward as assembly candidates.
Donaldson engineered several party council meetings in protest against David Trimble's policies. The council, however, backed Trimble’s leadership, and in mid-2003, along with fellow MPs David Burnside and Martin Smyth, Donaldson resigned the Ulster Unionist whip at Westminster. The MPs remained party members and in November 2003 Donaldson was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly for the UUP.
Following the success of the rival Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in the same election Assembly election of 2003, he reiterated his call for Trimble's immediate resignation,[6][7] but the party continued to back Trimble. On 18 December 2003 Donaldson, Norah Beare MLA and Arlene Foster announced their resignation from the UUP and on January 5 2004 they announced that they had joined the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).
Donaldson as DUP member
Donaldson was returned to the British House of Commons in the 2005 UK general election and in 2007 was appointed to Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, making him the Right Honourable Jeffrey Donaldson MP MLA.
References
- ^ About Me - Jeffrey Donaldson MP official site
- ^ RTE News
- ^ Permanent Revolution.net
- ^ English, R. (2003) Armed Struggle: The History of the IRA, Oxford University Press, USA, p.373
- ^ What happened to Good Friday? Garret FitzGerald (London Review of Books)
- ^ Irish Times
- ^ Irish Examiner - 2003/12/02: Paisley pledges to play ‘positive role’ in North
External links
- 1962 births
- Living people
- People from County Down
- Democratic Unionist Party MPs
- Members of the United Kingdom Parliament for Northern Irish constituencies
- Ulster Unionist Party politicians
- Northern Ireland MPAs 1982-1986
- Members of the Northern Ireland Forum
- Northern Ireland MLAs 2003-2007
- Northern Ireland MLAs 2007-
- Orange Order
- UK MPs 1997-2001
- UK MPs 2001-2005
- UK MPs 2005-
- Ulster-Scots