Nelson McCausland
| Nelson McCausland | |
|---|---|
.jpg) |
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| Minister for Social Development | |
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In office 16 May 2011 – 23 September 2014 |
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| Preceded by | Alex Attwood |
| Succeeded by | Mervyn Storey |
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Member of the Legislative Assembly for Belfast North |
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In office 26 November 2003 – 26 January 2017 |
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| Preceded by | Fraser Agnew |
| Succeeded by | Seat abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
15 August 1951 Belfast, Northern Ireland |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Democratic Unionist Party |
| Alma mater |
Queen's University Belfast Worcester College, Oxford |
| Profession | Teacher |
| Website | DUP website |
Nelson McCausland (born 15 August 1951) is a Unionist politician from Northern Ireland. He was a member of the Democratic Unionist Party and an MLA for North Belfast from 2003. He served as Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure (2009-2011) and Minister for Social Development (2011-2014) in the Northern Ireland Executive. In the 2017 Northern Ireland Assembly Election he lost his North Belfast MLA seat
He was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and was educated at Carr's Glen Primary School, Belfast Royal Academy, Worcester College, Oxford and Queen's University.
He was a science teacher in Ballygomartin Boys Secondary School (later Cairnmartin Secondary School) from 1973–81, and then became the Northern Ireland Secretary of the Lord's Day Observance Society, an evangelical Christian organisation. McCausland made his political debut in the 1982 Assembly elections, standing in North Belfast for the United Ulster Unionist Party (UUUP), when he was eliminated early on in the count. The UUUP fared badly in that election and afterwards it disbanded.
He ran as an Independent Unionist in a Belfast City Council by-election for Belfast Area H in February 1984, but polled only 9% of the vote. He stood again the following year for the Oldpark area in the local government elections, but managed only 5% of the vote.
He finally succeeded in gaining election for the Castle area in 1989, taking the seat of Alfie Redpath, the by-election victor of five years before. Around this time McCausland briefly served as a member of the Ulster Independence Committee. He was re-elected in 1993 as an Independent Unionist but announced the week after the election that he would join the Ulster Unionist Party and became the High Sheriff of Belfast in 1997. He was a candidate for the UUP in the 1996 Northern Ireland Forum elections, but was placed third on the UUP list, effectively giving him no chance of election. He attempted to dislodge Cecil Walker as North Belfast MP during the 1990s.
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Wikipedia