Reg Empey
Encyclopedia
Reginald Norman Morgan Empey, Baron Empey of Shandon, OBE, (born 26 October 1947) – known as Sir Reg Empey prior to 2011 – is a former Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party
and Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly
for East Belfast
. Twice Lord Mayor of Belfast
, he was elected the 13th leader of Ulster Unionist Party
on 24 June 2005, succeeding former First Minister of Northern Ireland, David Trimble
.
before graduating with an economics degree from Queen's University of Belfast
, where his contemporaries included the future MP Bernadette Devlin. After that he built up a business career, specifically in retailing, a dangerous trade in 1970s Belfast. When his Royal Avenue store, which was opposite the Army barracks, was destroyed in an explosion, and looted, he expressed his outrage on television.
He first entered politics in the late 1960s when he joined the Ulster Young Unionist Council. Along with many other Unionists he left in protest at reforms and became an early member of the Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party
, serving as the party chairman in 1975 and being elected to the Constitutional Convention in the same year. 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.
(UUP) and was elected to Belfast City Council
, serving as Lord Mayor
in 1989–1990 and 1993–1994. He was appointed an OBE in 1994 for services to local government. During this period he built up a political base in East Belfast
, though in 1995 he sought to become the Ulster Unionists' candidate for the North Down by-election
. However, he was not selected by local party members, losing out to Alan McFarland
.
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
.
was formed in 1999, Empey became Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, holding the portfolio throughout the entirety of the Executive's existence. In June 2001 Trimble temporarily resigned as First Minister of Northern Ireland and appointed Empey to fulfil the functions of the office for the interim period until disagreements between the parties had been restored. Empey undertook the role until November of that year. In 1999, Reg Empey was created a knight bachelor
by Her Majesty The Queen.
He was the Minister for Employment and Learning
from 2007–10.
Empey called for the Treasury to compensate investors in the collapsed mutual society Presbyterian Mutual
which the Treasury rejected.
. 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.
Empey is married to Stella, who worked for many years in the charitable sector. They have two children.
, he was elected to Belfast City Council with 1117 first preference votes, this was reduced in the subsequent 1989 local government election
to 864.
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
.
Empey stood in every election since 1998 to the devolved Northern Ireland Assembly until the 20011 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.
In the 2010 general election, Empey contested the South Antrim
seat, but was defeated by the incumbent William McCrea
for the DUP. The UUP does not hold a single seat in the 2010 Parliament, given Lady Hermon
's decision to run as an independent.
On 15 May 2010, Empey announced that he was to stand down in late 2010 as leader of the Ulster Unionist Party. In August 2010, he confirmed that he would resign as leader in September 2010.
and will sit as a Conservative
in the House of Lords
. He took his seat as Lord Empey of Shandon, supported by Lord Trimble
and Lord Rogan
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...
and Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly
Northern Ireland Assembly
The Northern Ireland Assembly is the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and to appoint the Northern Ireland Executive...
for East Belfast
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...
. Twice Lord Mayor of Belfast
Lord Mayor of Belfast
The Lord Mayor of Belfast is the leader and chairman of Belfast City Council, elected annually from and by the City's 51 councillors.The Lord Mayor is Niall Ó Donnghaile of Sinn Féin, while the Deputy Lord Mayor is Ruth Patterson of the Democratic Unionist Party, who were elected in May 2011.The...
, he was elected the 13th leader of 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...
on 24 June 2005, succeeding former First Minister of Northern Ireland, David Trimble
David Trimble
William David Trimble, Baron Trimble, PC , is a politician from Northern Ireland. He served as Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party , was the first First Minister of Northern Ireland , and was a Member of the British Parliament . He is currently a life peer for the Conservative Party...
.
Early life
Born in east Belfast on 26 October 1947, Reg Empey's family were retailers, and his uncle was a Stormont Ulster Unionist MP. Empey attended Hillcrest Preparatory School, Belfast, and The Royal School, ArmaghThe Royal School, Armagh
The Royal School, Armagh is a co-educational voluntary grammar school in the city of Armagh, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. It was one of a number of free schools created by King James I of England in 1608 to provide an education to the sons of local merchants and farmers during the plantation...
before graduating with an economics degree from Queen's University of Belfast
Queen's University of Belfast
Queen's University Belfast is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The university's official title, per its charter, is the Queen's University of Belfast. It is often referred to simply as Queen's, or by the abbreviation QUB...
, where his contemporaries included the future MP Bernadette Devlin. After that he built up a business career, specifically in retailing, a dangerous trade in 1970s Belfast. When his Royal Avenue store, which was opposite the Army barracks, was destroyed in an explosion, and looted, he expressed his outrage on television.
He first entered politics in the late 1960s when he joined the Ulster Young Unionist Council. Along with many other Unionists he left in protest at reforms and became an early member of the Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party
Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party
The Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party , informally known as Ulster Vanguard, was a unionist political party which existed in Northern Ireland between 1973 and 1978...
, serving as the party chairman in 1975 and being elected to the Constitutional Convention in the same year. When Vanguard split during the Northern Ireland 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....
, Empey joined the breakaway group which formed the United Ulster Unionist Party
United Ulster Unionist Party
The United Ulster Unionist Party was a unionist political party which existed in Northern Ireland between 1975 and 1984.It emerged from a division in the Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party in the late 1970s...
, serving as the party's Deputy Leader from 1977 until its dissolution in 1984.
Ulster Unionist Party
Empey then rejoined the Ulster Unionist PartyUlster 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...
(UUP) and 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...
, serving as Lord Mayor
Lord Mayor
The Lord Mayor is the title of the Mayor of a major city, with special recognition.-Commonwealth of Nations:* In Australia it is a political position. Australian cities with Lord Mayors: Adelaide, Brisbane, Darwin, Hobart, Melbourne, Newcastle, Parramatta, Perth, Sydney, and Wollongong...
in 1989–1990 and 1993–1994. He was appointed an OBE in 1994 for services to local government. During this period he built up a political base in East Belfast
Belfast East (UK Parliament constituency)
Belfast East is a Parliamentary Constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons. The current MP is Naomi Long of the Alliance Party, elected in 2010...
, though in 1995 he sought to become the Ulster Unionists' candidate for the North Down by-election
North Down by-election, 1995
The North Down by-election, in the North Down constituency, was held on 15 June 1995, following the death of James Kilfedder, who had represented the constituency since the 1970 general election...
. However, he was not selected by local party members, losing out to Alan McFarland
Alan McFarland
Major Robert Alan McFarland, MLA was an Independent Unionist politician and MLA for North Down in Northern Ireland. He lost his Assembly seat in the 2011 election....
.
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
David Trimble
William David Trimble, Baron Trimble, PC , is a politician from Northern Ireland. He served as Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party , was the first First Minister of Northern Ireland , and was a Member of the British Parliament . He is currently a life peer for the Conservative Party...
, 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
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....
for East Belfast and in 1998 and 2003 he was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly
Northern Ireland Assembly
The Northern Ireland Assembly is the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and to appoint the Northern Ireland Executive...
.
Executive career
When the Northern Ireland ExecutiveNorthern Ireland Executive
The Northern Ireland Executive is the executive arm of the Northern Ireland Assembly, the devolved legislature for Northern Ireland. It is answerable to the Assembly and was established according to the terms of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, which followed the Good Friday Agreement...
was formed in 1999, Empey became Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, holding the portfolio throughout the entirety of the Executive's existence. In June 2001 Trimble temporarily resigned as First Minister of Northern Ireland and appointed Empey to fulfil the functions of the office for the interim period until disagreements between the parties had been restored. Empey undertook the role until November of that year. In 1999, Reg Empey was created a knight bachelor
Knight Bachelor
The rank of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. It is the most basic rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organised Orders of Chivalry...
by Her Majesty The Queen.
He was the Minister for Employment and Learning
Department for Employment and Learning
The Department for Employment and Learning , formerly the Department of Higher and Further Education, Training and Employment , is a devolved Northern Ireland government department in the Northern Ireland Executive...
from 2007–10.
Empey called for the Treasury to compensate investors in the collapsed mutual society Presbyterian Mutual
Presbyterian Mutual
ThePresbyterian Mutual Society, also known as Presbyterian Mutual is a Belfast based mutual society with around 9.500 investors, most of whom are members of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland....
which the Treasury rejected.
Leadership
In 2005 Trimble resigned as leader following a disastrous showing by the UUP in the 2005 general electionUnited Kingdom general election, 2005
The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....
. Empey stood in the contest to succeed him
Ulster Unionist Party leadership election, 2005
The 2005 Ulster Unionist Party leadership election began on 7 May 2005 when David Trimble resigned as leader of the Ulster Unionist Party following his party's poor performance in the 2005 general election when it lost all but one of its seats, including Trimble's own...
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.
Personal life
Empey is a member of the Orange Order, his lodge being Eldon LOL 7, in the Belfast district.Empey is married to Stella, who worked for many years in the charitable sector. They have two children.
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. In the 1985 Local Government electionNorthern Ireland local elections, 1985
Elections for local government were held in Northern Ireland on 15 May 1985.-1981 elections:The previous elections had been fought in the middle of the hunger strike and the H-Block Prison Protest...
, he was elected to Belfast City Council with 1117 first preference votes, this was reduced in the subsequent 1989 local government election
Northern Ireland local elections, 1989
Elections for local government were held in Northern Ireland in 1989.-Background:The elections took place after a turbulent period in Northern Irish politics. The signing of the Anglo-Irish Agreement in November 1985 had been followed by widespread protests by those in the Unionist community...
to 864.
In 1993
Northern Ireland local elections, 1993
Elections for local government were held in Northern Ireland on 19 May 1993.-Overall:-Belfast:-References:...
he was elected having attained 1295 first preference votes, and was elected again in 1997
Northern Ireland local elections, 1997
Elections for local government were held in Northern Ireland on 21 May 1997, shortly after the 1997 general election across the entire United Kingdom.-Overall:-Belfast:-References:...
with 2309 first preference votes. However this still left him behind his main DUP
Democratic Unionist Party
The Democratic Unionist Party is the larger of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland. Founded by Ian Paisley and currently led by Peter Robinson, it is currently the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly and the fourth-largest party in the House of Commons of the...
rival in the Pottinger Electoral Area, Sammy Wilson
Sammy Wilson
Samuel Wilson is a politician from Northern Ireland who is a Member of Parliament and a Member of the Legislative Assembly for East Antrim. He served as Lord Mayor of Belfast in 1986 – 1987; and again from June 2000 to June 2001. He was the first person from the Democratic Unionist Party ...
.
Empey stood in every election since 1998 to the devolved Northern Ireland Assembly until the 20011 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
Peter Robinson (politician)
Peter David Robinson is the current First Minister of Northern Ireland and leader of the Democratic Unionist Party...
in the 2005 Westminster election polling 30.1% of the vote but failing to get elected.
In the 2010 general election, Empey contested the South Antrim
South Antrim (UK Parliament constituency)
South Antrim is a Parliamentary Constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons.-Boundaries:From 1885, this constituency was one of four county divisions of the former Antrim constituency...
seat, but was defeated by the incumbent William McCrea
William McCrea (politician)
Robert Thomas William McCrea is a politician from Northern Ireland, and a member of the Democratic Unionist Party.-Career:...
for the DUP. The UUP does not hold a single seat in the 2010 Parliament, given Lady Hermon
Sylvia Hermon
Sylvia Eileen Hermon, Lady Hermon is a Northern Irish politician. Since 2001, she has been the Member of Parliament for the constituency of North Down, first elected for the Ulster Unionist Party , but now an independent...
's decision to run as an independent.
On 15 May 2010, Empey announced that he was to stand down in late 2010 as leader of the Ulster Unionist Party. In August 2010, he confirmed that he would resign as leader in September 2010.
House of Lords
On 19 November 2010, it was announced that Empey would be created a life peerLife peer
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the Peerage whose titles cannot be inherited. Nowadays life peerages, always of baronial rank, are created under the Life Peerages Act 1958 and entitle the holders to seats in the House of Lords, presuming they meet qualifications such as...
and will sit as a Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
in the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
. He took his seat as Lord Empey of Shandon, supported by Lord Trimble
David Trimble
William David Trimble, Baron Trimble, PC , is a politician from Northern Ireland. He served as Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party , was the first First Minister of Northern Ireland , and was a Member of the British Parliament . He is currently a life peer for the Conservative Party...
and Lord Rogan
Styles
- Master Reginald Empey (1947–1963)
- Mr Reginald Empey (1963–1994)
- Mr Reginald Empey OBE (1994–1998)
- Mr Reginald Empey OBE MLA (1998–1999)
- Sir Reginald Empey OBE MLA (1999–2011)
- The Lord Empey OBE MLA (2011)
- The Lord Empey OBE (2011 –