John Alderdice, Baron Alderdice
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The Right Honourable The Lord Alderdice |
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|---|---|
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| President of Liberal International | |
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In office 2005–2009 |
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| Preceded by | Annemie Neyts-Uyttebroeck |
| Succeeded by | Hans van Baalen |
| 1st Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly | |
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In office 1 July 1998 – 29 February 2004 |
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| Deputy |
Sir John Gorman (2000–02) Donovan McClelland (2000–07) Jane Morrice (2000–07) Jim Wilson (2002–07) |
| Preceded by | New position |
| Succeeded by | Eileen Bell |
| Leader of the Alliance Party | |
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In office 1987–1998 |
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| Preceded by | John Cushnahan |
| Succeeded by | Séan Neeson |
| Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Belfast East |
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In office 25 June 1998 – 26 November 2003 |
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| Preceded by | New Creation |
| Succeeded by | Naomi Long |
| Lord Temporal | |
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Assumed office 8 October 1996 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
28 March 1955 Ballymena, Northern Ireland |
| Political party | Liberal Democrats |
| Other political affiliations |
Alliance |
| Spouse(s) | Joan Hill |
| Children | 3 |
| Alma mater | Queen's University Belfast |
| Religion | Presbyterian |
John Thomas Alderdice, Baron Alderdice (born 28 March 1955) is a Northern Ireland politician. He was Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly 1998–2004, leader of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland 1987–1998, and since 1996 has sat in the House of Lords as a Liberal Democrat.
Alderdice was born to the Rev. David Alderdice and Annie Margaret Helena Shields. He was educated at Ballymena Academy and the Queen's University of Belfast (QUB) where he studied medicine and qualified in 1978. In 1977, he married Joan Hill, with whom he has two sons and one daughter. He worked part-time as a consultant psychiatrist in psychotherapy in the NHS from 1988 until he retired from psychiatric practice in 2010. He also lectured at Queen's University's Faculty of Medicine between 1991 and 1999.
Alderdice claims a distant relationship to John King, a nineteenth century Australian explorer and the sole survivor of the Burke and Wills expedition.
The Alliance Party was formed in 1970 as an alternative to sectarian politics. Alderdice was on the Executive Committee of the party between 1984 and 1998, Chair of the Policy Committee between 1985 and 1987, the party Vice-chair in 1987, before becoming the party leader ahead of the 1987 general election, and contested Belfast East for the party in 1987 and 1992. He received 32.1% of the vote in 1987, the highest percentage achieved by Alliance in an individual seat in a Westminster election until Naomi Long's historic victory for the party in Belfast East in the 2010 general election. In 1988, in Alliance's keynote post-Anglo Irish Agreement document, "Governing with Consent", Alderdice called for a devolved power-sharing government based on a voluntary coalition elected by a qualified majority vote. Throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, Alliance's vote across Northern Ireland stabilised at between 6% and 8%.
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