Reg Empey
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Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal | |
---|---|
Assumed office 19 January 2011 Life Peerage | |
Member of the Legislative Assembly for Belfast East | |
In office 25 June 1998 – 5 May 2011 | |
Preceded by | Office established |
Succeeded by | Michael Copeland |
Personal details | |
Born | Reginald Norman Morgan Empey 26 October 1947 Belfast, Northern Ireland |
Nationality | British |
Political party | Ulster Unionist Party (Before 1973; 1984–2011; 2011-) |
Other political affiliations | Ulster Vanguard (1973–1975) United Ulster Unionist Party (1975–1984) Conservatives (2011) |
Spouse | Stella Empey |
Children | 2 |
Alma mater | Queen's University Belfast |
Profession | Businessman |
Reginald Norman Morgan Empey, Baron Empey,
Biography
Early life
Reg Empey was born in West
He first entered politics in the late 1960s when he joined the
When Vanguard split during the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention, Empey joined the breakaway group which formed the United Ulster Unionist Party, serving as the party's deputy leader from 1977 until its dissolution in 1984. [citation needed]
Ulster Unionist Party
Empey then rejoined the
He was appointed an
During this period Empey built up a political base in East Belfast, but in 1995 he sought to become the Ulster Unionists' candidate for the North Down by-election. He was not selected by North Down party members, losing out to Alan McFarland. [citation needed]
Empey became increasingly prominent in the UUP and was often a member of its negotiating teams throughout the 1990s, the decade when he first became a party officer, and he became a key ally of David Trimble, who became leader of the party in 1995. Trimble had been deputy leader of Vanguard in the years after the divide. In 1996, Empey was elected to the Northern Ireland Forum for East Belfast and in 1998 and 2003 he was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly. [citation needed]
Executive career
When the
He was the Minister for Employment and Learning from 2007 to 2010. He called for the Treasury to compensate investors in the collapsed mutual society Presbyterian Mutual which the Treasury rejected.[5]
In October 2011, he welcomed the news that the National Transitional Council of Libya had agreed compensate victims of IRA bombings. He said the many shipments of arms sent to Ireland by Colonel Gaddafi for IRA use, were 'tantamount to an act of war against the United Kingdom.'[6]
Leadership
In 2005, Trimble resigned as leader following a disastrous showing by the UUP in the 2005 general election. Empey stood in the contest to succeed him and on 24 June 2005, was elected. In a reversal of fortunes, his main opponent was Alan McFarland, to whom he had lost the by-election nomination ten years earlier.[citation needed]
Personal life
Reg and Stella Empey have two children. Empey is a member of the Orange Order, his lodge being Eldon LOL 7, in the Belfast district. Lady Empey was appointed MBE in the 2007 New Year Honours for services to the community in Northern Ireland and died in 2023.[7]
Election results
Empey first stood for election in the 1975 elections to the Constitutional Convention, standing as a candidate in Belfast East for the Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party he received 4657 first preference votes he was elected. In the 1977 Local Government elections he received 981 first preference votes and was unsuccessful (he did not run in the 1981 Local Government Elections), and the 1982 Assembly election he received 503 first preference votes. [citation needed]
In the 1985 Local Government election, he was elected to Belfast City Council with 1117 first preference votes, this was reduced in the subsequent 1989 local government election to 864. [citation needed]
In 1993 he was elected having attained 1295 first preference votes, and was elected again in 1997 with 2309 first preference votes. However this still left him behind his main DUP rival in the Pottinger Electoral Area, Sammy Wilson.[8]
He was a senior Ulster Unionist negotiator for the Good Friday Agreement.[9]
Empey stood in every election since 1998 to the devolved Northern Ireland Assembly until the 2011 election. He was first elected to the Assembly in 1998 polling 12.8% of the popular vote, in 2003, 20.9% of the popular vote, and in 2007, 14% of the popular vote. Empey also stood against DUP MP for East Belfast Peter Robinson in the 2005 Westminster election polling 30.1% of the vote but failing to get elected.[10]
In the 2010 general election, Empey contested the South Antrim seat, but was defeated by the incumbent William McCrea for the DUP.
On 15 May 2010, Empey announced that he was to stand down in late 2010 as leader of the Ulster Unionist Party.[11] In August 2010, he confirmed that he would resign as leader in September 2010.[12][13][14]
House of Lords
On 19 November 2010, it was announced that Empey would be created a
As a supporter of
References
- ^ "Empey jumps to it". Belfast Telegraph. 5 July 2008. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
- ISBN 9781317897101. Archivedfrom the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
- ^ "No. 53527". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1993. p. 11.
- ^ "No. 55610". The London Gazette. 14 September 1999. p. 9844.
- ^ Some good can come out of Presbyterian Mutual collapse Archived 18 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine, thenews.coop, 19 March 2009.
- Exaro News. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
- ^ Tributes paid following death of Lady Stella Empey, wife of former UUP leader
- ^ "Northern Ireland Elections – who won what and where?". ARK. 7 October 2007. Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 20 April 2008.
- ^ "Good Friday Agreement - 20 years on". 9 April 2018. Archived from the original on 11 May 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2021 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
- ^ "East Belfast". www.ark.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 16 May 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
- ^ "UUP leader Empey to go in autumn". 15 May 2010. Archived from the original on 11 May 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2021 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
- ^ "Sir Reg Empey confirms resignation". Archived from the original on 11 May 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2021 – via www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk.
- ^ "The Guardian – Ulster Unionist leader Sir Reg Empey to step down next month". The Guardian. London. Press Association. 9 August 2010. Archived from the original on 12 November 2013. Retrieved 30 August 2012.
- ^ "BBC News – Sir Reg Empey to become a peer". BBC News. 19 November 2010. Archived from the original on 22 November 2010. Retrieved 30 August 2012.
- ^ "Latest peerages announced". GOV.UK. Archived from the original on 29 January 2017. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
- ^ "No. 59676". The London Gazette. 20 January 2011. p. 869.
- ^ Latest peerages announced, gov.uk. Accessed 10 January 2023.
- ^ Foster, Alice (2 March 2017). "Lords vote REVEALED: How each peer voted on the Brexit bill last night". Express.co.uk. Archived from the original on 18 January 2018. Retrieved 17 January 2018.