Sir Reg Empey
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The Right Honourable The Lord Empey OBE |
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|---|---|
| Chairman of the Ulster Unionist Party | |
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Assumed office 1 April 2012 |
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| Preceded by | David Campbell |
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Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal |
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Assumed office 15 January 2011 Life Peerage |
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| Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party | |
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In office 24 June 2005 – 22 September 2010 |
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| Deputy | Danny Kennedy |
| Preceded by | David Trimble |
| Succeeded by | Tom Elliott |
| Minister for Employment and Learning | |
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In office 8 May 2007 – 27 October 2010 |
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| First Minister |
Ian Paisley Peter Robinson |
| Deputy First Minister | Martin McGuinness |
| Preceded by | Carmel Hanna |
| Succeeded by | Danny Kennedy |
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First Minister of Northern Ireland Acting |
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In office 1 July 2001 – 6 November 2001 Serving with Seamus Mallon |
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| Preceded by | David Trimble |
| Succeeded by | David Trimble |
| Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment | |
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In office 1 July 1998 – 14 October 2002 |
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| First Minister | David Trimble |
| Deputy First Minister | Seamus Mallon |
| Preceded by | Office created |
| Succeeded by | Nigel Dodds |
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Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Belfast East |
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In office 25 June 1998 – 5 May 2011 |
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| Preceded by | Constituency created |
| Succeeded by | Michael Copeland |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Reginald Norman Morgan Empey 26 October 1947 Belfast, Northern Ireland |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party |
Ulster Unionist Party (Before 1973; 1984–present) |
| Other political affiliations |
Ulster Vanguard (1973–1975) United Ulster Unionist Party (1975–1984) |
| Spouse(s) | Stella Empey |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater | Queen's University Belfast |
| Profession | Businessman |
Reginald Norman Morgan Empey, Baron Empey, OBE (born 26 October 1947), best known as Reg Empey, is a British politician who was the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party from 2005 to 2010, and has been its chairman since 2012. Empey was also twice Lord Mayor of Belfast and was a Member of the Legislative Assembly for East Belfast from 1998 to 2011.
Reg Empey was born in West Belfast on 26 October 1947. His family were retailers, and his uncle was a Stormont Ulster Unionist MP. Empey attended Hillcrest Preparatory School, Belfast, and The Royal School, Armagh, 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. His Royal Avenue store, located opposite the British Army barracks, was destroyed in an explosion, and looted.
He first entered politics in the late 1960s when he joined the Ulster Young Unionist Council. Along with other hardline 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.
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