Roy Bradford

Roy Hamilton Bradford (7 July 1921 – 2 September 1998) was a Unionist politician in Northern Ireland and a government minister in both the Parliament of Northern Ireland and the 1973 Northern Ireland Assembly.

Roy Bradford
Minister of Development
In office
25 March 1971  30 March 1972
MonarchElizabeth II
Prime MinisterBrian Faulkner
Preceded byBrian Faulkner
Succeeded byAbolished
Minister of Commerce
In office
24 January 1969  23 March 1971
MonarchElizabeth II
Prime Minister
Preceded byBrian Faulkner
Succeeded byRobin Bailie
Member of Parliament
for Belfast Victoria
In office
25 November 1965  30 March 1972
Preceded byDavid Bleakley
Succeeded byParliament abolished
Majority423 (3.2%)
Personal details
Born
Roy Hamilton Bradford

7 July 1921
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Died2 September 1998 (aged 77)
Belfast, Northern Ireland
NationalityBritish
Political partyUlster Unionist Party
Alma materTrinity College Dublin
OccupationPolitician

Born in Ligoniel in Belfast, Bradford studied at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution and Trinity College Dublin, where he was elected a Scholar. He then worked in British Army intelligence before moving to London, where he worked for the BBC and ITV. In 1960 he published a novel, Excelsior.[1]

At the 1965 Northern Ireland general election, Bradford was elected for the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) in Belfast Victoria, defeating David Bleakley MP of the Northern Ireland Labour Party. In 1966 he was appointed as an Assistant Whip, then in 1968 as Chief Whip. From 1969 to 1971 he was the Minister of Commerce, becoming Minister of Development from 1971 to 1972.[1]

At the 1973 Northern Ireland Assembly election, Bradford was elected in Belfast East. He sided in favour of the Sunningdale Agreement and remained loyal to Brian Faulkner, and was Minister in charge of the Department of the Environment until June 1974. He stood unsuccessfully in North Down at the February 1974 general election. He followed Brian Faulkner into the Unionist Party of Northern Ireland after the collapse of the power-sharing executive, but in June 1974 he returned to the UUP. He was not elected to the 1975 Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention.[1]

Bradford completed a second novel, Last Ditch, in 1982. In 1989 he was elected to North Down Borough Council, where he joined his wife Hazel in the UUP group. He worked as a journalist, writing an influential weekly column in the Belfast News Letter and also served as a councillor and Mayor of North Down.[1] In 1996 he was an unsuccessful candidate in the Northern Ireland Forum election in North Down.[2]

His papers were deposited in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. Roy and Hazel Bradford's son, Conor, is a presenter of Good Morning Ulster for BBC Northern Ireland.[3]

References

  1. "Bradford, Roy", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
  2. Northern Ireland elections
  3. New day for Good Morning Ulster's Conor Bradford, The News Letter, 27 August 2009
Parliament of Northern Ireland
Preceded by
David Bleakley
Member of Parliament for Belfast Victoria
1965–1973
Parliament abolished
Northern Ireland Assembly (1973)
New assembly Assembly Member for East Belfast
1973–1974
Assembly abolished
Party political offices
Preceded by
Isaac George Hawthorne
Unionist Assistant Whip
1966–1967
With: Samuel Magowan
Succeeded by
Samuel Magowan
Vacant
Title last held by
James Chichester-Clark
Unionist Chief Whip
1968–1969
Succeeded by
John Dobson
Political offices
Preceded by
Isaac George Hawthorne
Assistant Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Finance
1966–1967
With: Samuel Magowan
Succeeded by
Samuel Magowan
Political offices
Preceded by
Vacant
Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Education
1967–1968
Succeeded by
Office abolished
Vacant
Title last held by
James Chichester-Clark
Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Finance
1968–1969
Office abolished
Preceded by
Brian Faulkner
Minister of Commerce and Production
1969–1971
Succeeded by
Robin Bailie
Civic offices
Preceded by
Brian Wilson
Mayor of North Down
1994–95
Succeeded by
Susan O'Brien
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