David Calvert
{{Short description|Northern Irish unionist politician}}
{{distinguish|David Calvert-Smith}}
{{for|the Australian politician|David Calvert (Australian politician)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2017}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name = David Calvert
|office = Member of Craigavon Borough Council
|constituency = Craigavon
|term_start = 15 May 1985
|term_end = 17 May 1989
|predecessor = District created
|successor = Ruth Allen
|constituency1 = Craigavon Area D
|term_start1 = 30 May 1973
|term_end1 = 15 May 1985
|predecessor1 = District created
|successor1 = District abolished
| office2 = Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly
for Armagh
| term_start2 = 20 October 1982
| term_end2 = 1986
|birth_date = 1946
|birth_place = County Armagh, Northern Ireland
|death_date =
|party = Traditional Unionist Voice (since 2007)
Democratic Unionist (1971 - 1993)
|otherparty = Independent Unionist (2001 - 2007)
}}
David Calvert (born 1946) is a Northern Irish unionist politician. He worked as a director of a family shirt manufacturing company. He was a founder member of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in County Armagh.Times Guide to the House of Commons, May 1979, p. 36
Career
He was elected to Craigavon Borough Council in 1973,[http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/73-81lgcraigavon.htm The Local Government Elections 1973-1981: Craigavon], Northern Ireland Elections and held his seat until he stood down in 1989.[http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/85-89lgcraigavon.htm Local Government Elections 1985-1989: Craigavon], Northern Ireland Elections; accessed 11 November 2015.
He stood for the party in Fermanagh and South Tyrone at the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention election in 1975, but was not elected.[http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/cfst.htm Fermanagh and South Tyrone 1973-1982], Northern Ireland Elections; accessed 11 November 2015.
He then moved to Armagh, which he contested at the 1979 UK general election, but took only 8.6% of the vote.[http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/carmagh.htm Armagh 1973-1983], Northern Ireland Elections; accessed 11 November 2015.
In the early 1980s, Calvert was Deputy Chairman of the DUP,Dod's parliamentary companion, Issue 164, p. 557 and in the 1982 Northern Ireland Assembly election, he won a seat. In 1987, he was seriously injured in an assassination attempt on his life by the Irish National Liberation Army, but recovered fully.Coogan, Tim Pat, The IRA, p. 357 The INLA had also tried to kill him in 1981.The Belfast Telegraph, 19 September 1983. He fell out with the DUP in 1993, in a dispute over candidate selection, and was expelled from the party.Gareth Gordon, "[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6162581.stm Murmurs of 'betrayal' over power-sharing]", BBC News, 8 December 2006
Calvert stood as an independent candidate in Craigavon at the 2001 local elections, and narrowly missed taking a seat. He stood again in 2005, without success.[http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/lgcraigavon.htm Craigavon Borough Council Elections 1993-2005], Northern Ireland Elections
In 2006, he attended a meeting of critics of the Belfast Agreement, addressed by Robert McCartney of the UK Unionist Party, but at the 2007 Assembly election he stood as an independent again, this time in Upper Bann, taking 3.1% of the vote.[http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/aub.htm Upper Bann], Northern Ireland Elections; accessed 11 November 2015.
Following the elections, Calvert joined Traditional Unionist Voice, and stood for the party in a by-election to Craigavon Borough Council in January 2010, taking a distant second place."[http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/breaking-news/uk-ireland/ulster-unionists-win-byelection-14635607.html Ulster Unionists win by-election]", Belfast Telegraph, 14 January 2010.
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Calvert, David}}
Category:Members of Craigavon Borough Council
Category:Democratic Unionist Party councillors
Category:Northern Ireland MPAs 1982–1986
Category:Traditional Unionist Voice politicians
Category:British shooting survivors