Drew Nelson LLB

Bachelor of Laws

The Bachelor of Laws is an undergraduate, or bachelor, degree in law originating in England and offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree...

 is a solicitor, former politician and Grand Secretary of the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland.

In 1992

United Kingdom general election, 1992

The United Kingdom general election of 1992 was held on 9 April 1992, and was the fourth consecutive victory for the Conservative Party. This election result was one of the biggest surprises in 20th Century politics, as polling leading up to the day of the election showed Labour under leader Neil...

 Nelson was selected by the South Down

South Down (UK Parliament constituency)

South Down is a Parliamentary Constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons.-Boundaries:The county constituency was first created in 1885 from the southern part of Down...

 constituency of the Ulster Unionist Party

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...

 to succeed Enoch Powell

Enoch Powell

John Enoch Powell, MBE was a British politician, classical scholar, poet, writer, and soldier. He served as a Conservative Party MP and Minister of Health . He attained most prominence in 1968, when he made the controversial Rivers of Blood speech in opposition to mass immigration from...

 as parliamentary candidate. He lost to Eddie McGrady

Eddie McGrady

Edward Kevin McGrady, known as Eddie McGrady is an Irish nationalist politician and a former member of the British Parliament.One of eleven children, McGrady was educated at St...

 by 6000 votes. In 1989 he topped the poll in Dromore DEA

Dromore, County Down

Dromore is a small market town in the Banbridge District of County Down, Northern Ireland. It is south-west of Belfast, on the A1 Belfast – Dublin road. The 2001 Census recorded a population of 4,968 people....

 and was elected to Banbridge District Council. He retained his seat in 1993 and went on to become Chairman of the Council before standing down in 1997. In 1996 he expressed support for the UUP ending or reforming its link with the Orange in an attempt to broaden its appeal, for which he was heckled. He also supported power sharing with the 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...

 in a devolved unitary legislature, however he opposed 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...

.

He was fourth on the UUP list for election to the Northern Ireland Forum

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....

in South Belfast In 2004 he left the UUP and in 2005 became Grand Secretary of the Orange Institution.