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The Lord Maginnis of Drumglass | |
|---|---|
| Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal | |
Suspended | |
| Assumed office 20 July 2001 Life peerage | |
| Member ofDungannon and South Tyrone Borough Council | |
| In office 7 June 2001 – 5 May 2005 | |
| Preceded by | Joan Carson |
| Succeeded by | Gilbert Greenaway |
| Constituency | Dungannon Town |
| In office 15 May 1985 – 19 May 1993 | |
| Preceded by | District created |
| Succeeded by | Leslie Holmes |
| Constituency | Dungannon Town |
| In office 20 May 1981 – 15 May 1985 | |
| Preceded by | Jack Hassard |
| Succeeded by | District abolished |
| Constituency | Dungannon Area D |
| Member of Parliament forFermanagh and South Tyrone | |
| In office 9 June 1983 – 14 May 2001 | |
| Preceded by | Owen Carron |
| Succeeded by | Michelle Gildernew |
| Member of theNorthern Ireland Forum forFermanagh and South Tyrone | |
| In office 30 May 1996 – 25 April 1998 | |
| Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly forFermanagh and South Tyrone | |
| In office 20 October 1982 – 1986 | |
| Preceded by | Assembly reconvened |
| Succeeded by | Assembly dissolved |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1938-01-21)21 January 1938 (age 87) Dungannon, Northern Ireland |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Independent Ulster Unionist |
| Other political affiliations | Ulster Unionist Party(until 2012) |
| Alma mater | Royal School Dungannon |
Kenneth Wiggins Maginnis, Baron Maginnis of Drumglass (born 21 January 1938), is aNorthern Irish politician andlife peer. Since December 2020, he has been suspended from theHouse of Lords, where he formerly sat for theUlster Unionist Party (UUP).[1] He was the Ulster Unionist PartyMember of Parliament (MP) forFermanagh and South Tyrone from 1983 to 2001.
Maginnis was educated at theRoyal School Dungannon and atStranmillis College. He worked as ateacher for a number of years before joining theUlster Defence Regiment (UDR) in 1971. After leaving theBritish Army with the rank ofmajor in 1981, he became theUlster Unionist Party (UUP) spokesman on internal security and defence, and was that same year elected to Dungannon District Council, on which he sat for twelve years until losing his seat in 1993.
Maginnis was the Ulster Unionist candidate forFermanagh and South Tyrone in thesecond by-election in 1981, coming second. This by-election was caused by the death of sitting MPBobby Sands on hunger strike. As a result of changes to the electoral law with the passing of theRepresentation of the People Act 1981, another hunger striker could not be nominated. InsteadOwen Carron, who had served as Sands' election agent in the earlier election, was nominated and elected as an "Anti-H-Block Proxy Political Prisoner".
The following year, he was elected to the failedNorthern Ireland Assembly, as a representative for the Fermanagh and South Tyrone constituency. At the1983 general election he was elected to theHouse of Commons as theMember of Parliament for the constituency of the same name, defeating Carron who was defending the seat as aSinn Féin candidate. Two years later, along with the rest of hisUnionist colleagues, heresigned his seat in protest at theAnglo-Irish Agreement, but was re-elected in the subsequent by-election. He continued his protest by refusing to pay his car tax, for which he was sentenced to seven days' imprisonment in 1987.[citation needed]
He renewed his membership ofDungannon and South Tyrone Borough Council in 2001 when he was elected for Dungannon Town. However, in 2005 he chose to move to the neighbouring Clogher Valley electoral area in an attempt to boost theUUP vote. This strategy backfired and he again lost his seat.
He stood down as an MP at the2001 general election, and on 20 July of that year was created alife peer taking the titleBaron Maginnis of Drumglass, ofCarnteel in theCounty of Tyrone,[2] and took his seat in theHouse of Lords, sitting initially with the UUP.
In December 2020, the House of Lords Conduct Committee recommended that Maginnis be suspended from the House of Lords for at least 18 months for breaching the Code of Conduct in relation to behaviour that constituted bullying and harassment against four complainants,[3][4] includinghomophobic remarks directed atSNP MPHannah Bardell andShadow Environment SecretaryLuke Pollard.[3] As well as being overheard saying "I am not going to be bullied by queers",[3] he sent an email toJames Gray, chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Armed Forces, with the subject "Discrimination by Homos".[3]
Maginnis was perceived to be on the moresocial liberal wing of the UUP along withLady Hermon. He is one of only three MPs in theUlster Unionist Party's history not to have been a member of theOrange Order (the other two beingEnoch Powell and Lady Hermon), although he was a member of theApprentice Boys of Derry.[5]
In April 1994 Sinn Féin demanded that their members be permitted to carry personal protection weapons like other political parties following the murder of Catholic woman Theresa Clinton (the wife of a Sinn Féin member) by theUlster Defence Association (UDA). Maginnis, speaking as UUP security spokesman, responded: "Those who deliberately and consciously incite violence against themselves should not expect the law-abiding community to finance their protection.[6]
In June 2012, onBBC Northern Ireland'sThe Nolan Show, Maginnis stated he was opposed togay marriage because it was "unnatural" and he did not believe society should "have imposed on it something that is unnatural". He said: "Does that mean that every deviant practice has to be accommodated? Will the next thing be that we legislate for some sort of bestiality?" The comments prompted the Ulster Unionist Party leader,Mike Nesbitt, to state that Maginnis expressed his views in a personal capacity and did not reflect party policy. Maginnis's remarks were condemned by gay rights groups.[7] That same month, at the behest of Nesbitt, he suffered the withdrawal of the UUP partywhip over his comments; Maginnis resigned from the UUP on 28 August 2012.[8]
In August 2013, Lord Maginnis of Drumglass was found guilty of an "angry and abusive tirade" following aroad rage incident, and was fined.[3][9]
In 2016, Maginnis received a heavy fine after refusing to pay a small fine for having the wrong ticket for a train journey betweenGatwick Airport and London.[10]
| Northern Ireland Assembly (1982) | ||
|---|---|---|
| New assembly | MPA forFermanagh and South Tyrone 1982–1986 | Assembly abolished |
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forFermanagh and South Tyrone 1983–2001 | Succeeded by |
| Northern Ireland Forum | ||
| New forum | Member forFermanagh and South Tyrone 1996–1998 | Forum dissolved |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Honorary Treasurer of theUlster Unionist Party 2005–2008 | Succeeded by Cllr Mark Cosgrove |
| Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by | Gentlemen Baron Maginnis of Drumglass | Followed by |
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
