David Calvert

David Calvert
David Calvert
Member of Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly ; for Armagh
	In office; 20 October 1982 – 1986
Personal details
Born	1946; County Armagh, Northern Ireland
Political party	Traditional Unionist Voice (since 2007) ; Democratic Unionist (1971 - 1993)
Other political; affiliations	Independent Unionist (2001 - 2007)

David Calvert (born 1946) is a Northern Irish unionist politician. He worked as a director of a family shirt manufacturing company. He was a founder member of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in County Armagh.^[1]

Career

He was elected to Craigavon Borough Council in 1973,^[2] and held his seat until he stood down in 1989.^[3]

He stood for the party in Fermanagh and South Tyrone at the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention election in 1975, but was not elected.^[4]

He then moved to Armagh, which he contested at the 1979 UK general election, but took only 8.6% of the vote.^[5]

In the early 1980s, Calvert was Deputy Chairman of the DUP,^[6] and in the 1982 Northern Ireland Assembly election, he won a seat.^[5] In 1987, he was seriously injured in an assassination attempt on his life by the Irish National Liberation Army, but recovered fully.^[7] The INLA had also tried to kill him in 1981.^[8] He fell out with the DUP in 1993, in a dispute over candidate selection, and was expelled from the party.^[9]

Calvert stood as an

independent candidate in Craigavon at the 2001 local elections, and narrowly missed taking a seat. He stood again in 2005, without success.^[10]

In 2006, he attended a meeting of critics of the

Belfast Agreement, addressed by Robert McCartney of the UK Unionist Party,^[9] but at the 2007 Assembly election he stood as an independent again, this time in Upper Bann, taking 3.1% of the vote.^[11]

Following the elections, Calvert joined Traditional Unionist Voice, and stood for the party in a by-election to Craigavon Borough Council in January 2010, taking a distant second place.^[12]

References

^ Times Guide to the House of Commons, May 1979, p. 36
^ The Local Government Elections 1973-1981: Craigavon, Northern Ireland Elections
^ Local Government Elections 1985-1989: Craigavon, Northern Ireland Elections; accessed 11 November 2015.
^ Fermanagh and South Tyrone 1973-1982, Northern Ireland Elections; accessed 11 November 2015.
^ ^a ^b Armagh 1973-1983, Northern Ireland Elections; accessed 11 November 2015.
^ Dod's parliamentary companion, Issue 164, p. 557
^ Coogan, Tim Pat, The IRA, p. 357
^ The Belfast Telegraph, 19 September 1983.
^ ^a ^b Gareth Gordon, "Murmurs of 'betrayal' over power-sharing", BBC News, 8 December 2006
^ Craigavon Borough Council Elections 1993-2005, Northern Ireland Elections
^ Upper Bann, Northern Ireland Elections; accessed 11 November 2015.
^ "Ulster Unionists win by-election", Belfast Telegraph, 14 January 2010.

Northern Ireland Assembly (1982)
New assembly	MPA for Armagh 1982–1986	Assembly abolished

[times-1] Times Guide to the House of Commons, May 1979, p. 36

[2] The Local Government Elections 1973-1981: Craigavon, Northern Ireland Elections

[3] Local Government Elections 1985-1989: Craigavon, Northern Ireland Elections; accessed 11 November 2015.

[4] Fermanagh and South Tyrone 1973-1982, Northern Ireland Elections; accessed 11 November 2015.

[armagh73-5] Armagh 1973-1983, Northern Ireland Elections; accessed 11 November 2015.

[6] Dod's parliamentary companion, Issue 164, p. 557

[7] Coogan, Tim Pat, The IRA, p. 357

[8] The Belfast Telegraph, 19 September 1983.

[gordon-9] Gareth Gordon, "Murmurs of 'betrayal' over power-sharing", BBC News, 8 December 2006

[10] Craigavon Borough Council Elections 1993-2005, Northern Ireland Elections

[11] Upper Bann, Northern Ireland Elections; accessed 11 November 2015.

[12] "Ulster Unionists win by-election", Belfast Telegraph, 14 January 2010.

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