Roy Beggs Jr (born 3 July 1962) is an Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) politician, serving as a Mid and East Antrim Councillor for the Larne Lough DEA since 2023. Beggs served as a Deputy Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly from 2011 to 2016, and 2020 to 2022. He was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for East Antrim from 1998 to 2022.
Roy Beggs Jr | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of Mid and East Antrim Borough Council | |
| Assumed office 18 May 2023 | |
| Preceded by | Keith Turner |
| Constituency | Larne Lough |
| Deputy Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly | |
| In office 11 January 2020 – 31 May 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Danny Kennedy |
| Succeeded by | John Blair (2024) |
| In office 12 May 2011 – 30 March 2016 | |
| Preceded by | David McClarty |
| Succeeded by | Danny Kennedy |
| Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for East Antrim | |
| In office 25 June 1998 – 27 March 2022 | |
| Preceded by | New Creation |
| Succeeded by | Danny Donnelly |
| Member of Carrickfergus Borough Council | |
| In office 7 June 2001 – 5 May 2011 | |
| Preceded by | Joseph Reid |
| Succeeded by | John Stewart |
| Constituency | Knockagh |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 3 July 1962 Glenoe, Northern Ireland |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Ulster Unionist Party |
| Spouse | Sandra Beggs |
| Children | 3 |
| Residence(s) | Glenoe, County Antrim |
| Alma mater | Queen's University of Belfast |
| Profession | Engineer |
| Website | Official webpage |
Political career
edit
Beggs was first elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly for East Antrim at the 1998 election, where he topped the poll. [1]
At the 2001 local elections, he was elected to Carrickfergus Borough Council, representing the Knockagh District.
During this period, he had been elected as Chairman of the District Policing Partnership and vice-chairman of the Local Strategic Partnership and of the Community Safety Partnership.[2]
Beggs was re-elected to the Assembly at the 2003 election, with 16.7% of first-preference votes.
At the 2007 Assembly election, Beggs was elected on the 12th count with 10.2% of first-preference votes.
Beggs did not seek re-election as a councillor in the 2011 local elections, but did retain his Assembly seat in the Assembly election held the same day.
Following this, Beggs was elected as a Deputy Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly. He served as a member of the Assembly's Social Development Committee, Public Accounts Committee, Health Committee, Environment Committee, Finance Committee, Deputy Chairman of the Agriculture Committee and Regional Development Committee. He is the Ulster Unionist Party spokesperson on Social Development.
Beggs was the Ulster Unionist candidate for East Antrim at the 2015 UK General election, where he came second to the incumbent MP, Sammy Wilson, of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).
He lost his seat to Danny Donnelly of the Alliance Party in the 2022 Assembly election.[3]
In the 2023 local elections, Beggs was elected onto Mid and East Antrim Borough Council as his party’s representative for the Larne Lough District.
Personal life
editBeggs is the son of the politician Roy Beggs, who was the UUP Member of Parliament (MP) for East Antrim from 1983 to 2005.[4]
In 2003, Beggs succeeded in having Irish rebel music removed from the in-flight entertainment of Aer Lingus airplanes. He complained of the "blatant promotion of militant, armed republicanism" on a music channel during a flight from Dublin to Boston after seeing that Derek Warfield had a radio channel dedicated to his music. Beggs, it was the same as "the speeches of Osama Bin Laden being played on a trans-Atlantic Arabian airline."[5]
Aer Lingus removed the material from their flights stating: "It is something that should not have been on board and we removed it immediately we became aware of it."[6]
References
edit- ^ Nicholas. "East Antrim". Ark.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
- ^ Information Office, Northern Ireland Assembly (26 November 2003). "Northern Ireland Assembly - Biography - Roy Beggs". archive.niassembly.gov.uk. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
- ^ "NI election results 2022: Sinn Féin tops first preference vote in NI election". BBC. 6 May 2022. Archived from the original on 6 May 2022.
- ^ Cullen, Paul. "Son of Beggs may find it hard to match father's share of UUP vote". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
- ^ "Archived copy". www.roy-beggs.co.uk. Archived from the original on 13 April 2003. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Not Found | BreakingNews.ie". www.breakingnews.ie. Archived from the original on 16 May 2011. Retrieved 17 January 2022.