Joshua Cardwell was a Unionist

Unionism in Ireland

Unionism in Ireland is an ideology that favours the continuation of some form of political union between the islands of Ireland and Great Britain...

 politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

 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...

.

Born in Belfast and educated locally, Cardwell worked as the manager of a coal importing firm. In 1952 he was elected to Belfast City Council

Belfast City Council

Belfast City Council is the local authority with responsibility for the city of Belfast, the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland. The Council serves an estimated population of , the largest of any district council in Northern Ireland, while also being the fourth smallest by area...

 for Victoria Ward and later became an Alderman. In 1969 he was elected to the Parliament of Northern Ireland

Parliament of Northern Ireland

The Parliament of Northern Ireland was the home rule legislature of Northern Ireland, created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which sat from 7 June 1921 to 30 March 1972, when it was suspended...

 for Belfast Pottinger

Belfast Pottinger (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)

Belfast Pottinger was a constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland.-Boundaries:Belfast Pottinger was a borough constituency comprising part of eastern Belfast...

  as an 'O'Neill Unionist' supporting the reform proposals of the then Prime Minister. He remained a member until the Parliament was prorogued in 1972. In 1973 he was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly for Belfast East

Belfast East (Assembly constituency)

Belfast East 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...

, as a pledged Unionist supporting the former Prime Minister 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...

. When 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...

 split in 1974, Cardwell became a founder member of the Unionist Party of Northern Ireland

Unionist Party of Northern Ireland

The Unionist Party of Northern Ireland was a political party founded by Brian Faulkner in September 1974.-Formation:The party emerged following splits in the Ulster Unionist Party in 1973 and 1974 over the British government's white paper Northern Ireland Constitutional Proposals, the Northern...

 and was returned for Belfast East in the 1975 Constitutional Convention

Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention

The Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention was an elected body set up in 1975 by the UK Labour government of Harold Wilson as an attempt to deal with constitutional issues surrounding the status of Northern Ireland....

 election.

He remained a member of Belfast City Council until his death representing 'Area B' equivalent to the current Victoria area.

In 1982, Cardwell was questioned by police in relation to his visits to Kincora Boys' Home, which had seen a child sex abuse scandal. He committed suicide soon afterwards.

The Joss Cardwell Centre in East Belfast was named in his honour although this recently closed.