Billy Bell (politician) explained

Billy Bell
Honorific-Suffix:OBE, JP
Constituency Am:Lagan Valley
Assembly:Northern Ireland
Term Start:25 June 1998
Term End:7 March 2007
Predecessor:New Creation
Successor:Basil McCrea
Office1:Member of Lisburn City Council
Constituency1:Dunmurry Cross
Term Start1:17 May 1989
Term End1:5 May 2005
Predecessor1:Richard Scott
Successor1:Stephen Moore
Office2:Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly
for South Antrim
Term Start2:20 October 1982
Term End2:1986
Office3:Lord Mayor of Belfast
Term Start3:1979
Term End3:1980
Predecessor3:David Cook
Successor3:John Carson
Office4:Member of Belfast City Council
Constituency4:Belfast Area E
Term Start4:18 May 1977
Term End4:15 May 1985
Predecessor4:David Smylie
Successor4:District abolished
Office5:Member of the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention
for Belfast North
Term Start5:1975
Term End5:1976
Birth Date:9 October 1935
Birth Place:Belfast, Northern Ireland
Death Date:9 June 2020
Death Place:Belfast, Northern Ireland
Restingplace:Dundonald Cemetery
Party:Ulster Unionist Party
Website:Profile, archive.org

William Bradshaw Bell, OBE, JP (9 October 1935 – 9 June 2020), was an Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) politician from Northern Ireland, and a former Lord Mayor of Belfast. Bell was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Lagan Valley from 1998 to 2007.

Political career

He served as a Councillor on Belfast City Council from 1976 to 1985 and was Lord Mayor of Belfast from 1979 to 1980. He also served on Lisburn Council (1989–2007) and was Mayor of the City of Lisburn in 2003.

He was Personal Assistant to MP Rt Hon Sir James Molyneaux from 1976 to 1997. He was elected to the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention (1975–1976) for North Belfast, and to the Northern Ireland Assembly for the Lagan Valley constituency in 1998 and again in 2003. In 1996 he was an unsuccessful candidate in the Northern Ireland Forum election in Lagan Valley.[1] Bell stood in the 2007 Assembly election after re-selection by his party. However, he lost his seat to fellow UUP candidate, Basil McCrea.

He was appointed a Justice of the peace in 1985, and was a member of the Northern Ireland Housing Council.

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/96lv.htm Northern Ireland elections