David Cook (Northern Ireland politician)
{{Short description|Northern Irish politician (1944–2020)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = David Cook
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name = David Somerville Cook
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1944|1|25|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Leicester, England
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2020|9|19|1944|1|25|df=yes}}
| death_place = Portadown, Northern Ireland
| title =
| office1 = Northern Ireland Assembly (1982)
| term_start1 = 1982
| term_end1 = 1986
| predecessor1 =
| successor1 =
| constituency1 = Belfast South
| office2 = Lord Mayor of Belfast
| term_start2 = 1978
| term_end2 = 1979
| predecessor2 = James Stewart
| successor2 = Billy Bell
| constituency2 =
| office3 = Deputy Leader of the APNI
| term_start3 = 1980
| term_end3 = 1984
| predecessor3 = Basil Glass
| successor3 = Addie Morrow
| constituency3 =
| party = Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (APNI)
| nationality =
| other_names =
| occupation = Politician, solicitor
| years_active =
| known_for =
}}
David Somerville Cook (25 January 1944{{spnd}}19 September 2020) was an English-born solicitor and politician. He was a founding member of the non-sectarian, liberal-centre Alliance Party in Northern Ireland. He served on Belfast City Council from 1973 to 1986, and in 1978 he became the first non-Unionist Lord Mayor of Belfast since 1898.
He was elected as a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly of 1982 and served on that body until its abolishment in 1986. He was appointed Chair of the Police Authority of Northern Ireland in 1994 and held that position until his resignation from the role in 1996.
Early life
Cook was born on 25 January 1944, to Francis John Granville Cook and Jocelyn McKay ({{nee}} Stewart){{cite web|url=https://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/10.1093/ww/9780199540884.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-11703|work=Who's Who|publisher=Oxford University Press|date=1 December 2018|accessdate=24 September 2020|doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U11703|isbn=978-0-19-954088-4 |title=Cook, David Somerville, (Born 25 Jan. 1944), solicitor; Senior Partner, Messrs Sheldon & Stewart, Solicitors, Belfast; Chairman, Police Authority for Northern Ireland, 1994–96; Lord Mayor of Belfast, 1978–79 }} in Leicester, England. As a child, he moved to Northern Ireland with his parents and sisters after his father was appointed headmaster of Campbell College in 1954.{{cite news|last=Madden|first=Andrew|url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/tributes-paid-to-founding-member-of-alliance-party-and-former-lord-mayor-of-belfast-david-cook-following-death-from-covid-19-39546040.html|title=Tributes paid to founding member of Alliance Party and former Lord Mayor of Belfast David Cook following death from Covid-19|work=Belfast Telegraph|date=20 September 2020|publisher=Media Huis|accessdate=20 September 2020}}
Professional career
Cook worked as a solicitor, eventually becoming a senior partner at Sheldon and Stewart Solicitors.{{cite web|url=http://meathpeacegroup.org/events/?p=23|title=Policing in Northern Ireland|publisher=Meath Peace Group|accessdate=3 June 2016|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120206232129/http://meathpeacegroup.org/events/?p=23|archivedate=6 February 2012}}
Political career
In 1970, Cook was a founder member of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (APNI),{{cite news|url=http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/imported/article1022796.ece|title=Cook raps 'mean spirited unionism'|work=Belfast Telegraph|date=11 February 1997|publisher=Media Huis|accessdate=3 June 2016|archive-date=30 September 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930154918/http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/imported/article1022796.ece|url-status=dead}} a non-sectarian party,{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/dec/15/northern-ireland-sectarian-parties-punished-rise-non-aligned|title=Northern Ireland's sectarian parties punished by rise of the non-aligned|work=The Guardian|date=15 December 2019|access-date=21 September 2020|first=Rory|last=Carroll}} while he was elected to the party's Central Executive in 1971.{{cite web|first=Dr Martin|last= Melaugh|url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/issues/politics/docs/apni/apni270371.htm|title=APNI – Alliance Annual Conference 1971|work=Conflict Archive on the Internet|accessdate=3 June 2016|via=University of Ulster|publisher=ARK}}
He was elected to Belfast City Council in 1973,{{cite web|url=http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/73-81lgbelfast.htm|title=The Local Government Elections 1973–1981: Belfast |publisher=ARK|accessdate=3 June 2016}} a position he held until 1985.{{cite web|url=http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/85-89lgbelfast.htm |title=Local Government Elections 1985 – 1989: Belfast|publisher=ARK|accessdate=3 June 2016}} In 1978, he became the first non-Unionist Lord Mayor of Belfast since William James Pirrie, a Home Rule Liberal, in 1896–1898.{{cite web|url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/othelem/chron/ch78.htm|title=A Chronology of the Conflict-1978|publisher=ARK|accessdate=3 June 2016|work=Conflict Archive on the Internet|via=University of Ulster}}
He stood for APNI in Belfast South in the February 1974 general election, taking just under 10% of the vote.{{cite web|url=http://www.electionsireland.org/candidate.cfm?id=6667 |title=David Cook candidacies |publisher=ElectionsIreland.org |date= |accessdate=28 November 2010}} He was able to improve to 27% of the vote at the 1982 Belfast South by-election.{{cite web|url=http://www.election.demon.co.uk/by1979.html|title=Results of Byelections in the 1979-83 Parliament|work=Election Demon|last=Boothroyd|first=David|access-date=20 September 2020|department=United Kingdom Election Results|archive-date=9 June 2000|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000609021725/http://www.election.demon.co.uk/by1979.html|url-status=dead}} Following this, he won a seat on the Northern Ireland Assembly representing Belfast South.
In the 1983 general election, 1986 by-election and 1987 general election, he consistently won over 20% of the votes cast in Belfast South. He also stood for Alliance in the 1984 European Parliament election, but took only 4% of the vote. From 1980 to 1984, Cook served as the Deputy Leader of APNI.
In 1994, Cook became the Chairman of the Police Authority of Northern Ireland, but he was sacked from this role in 1996 after losing a vote of confidence.{{cite news|url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/mayhews-dilemma-in-police-watchdog-crisis/28377164.html|title=Mayhew's dilemma in police watchdog crisis|work=Belfast Telegraph|date=23 February 1996|publisher=Media Huis|accessdate=6 June 2023|first=Gary|last=Grattan}} After a critical account of his role in an internal row in that authority appeared in newspapers in 1998, he undertook a lengthy libel case which was ultimately settled out of court.{{cite news|url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/imported/police-authority-pair-settle-out-of-court-28310730.html|title=Police Authority pair settle out of court|work=Belfast Telegraph|date=12 November 2001|publisher=Media Huis|accessdate=3 June 2016|first=David|last=Gordon}} He subsequently sat on the Craigavon Health and Social Services Trust.{{cite news|url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/why-alliance-critics-point-accusing-finger/28384392.html|title=Why Alliance critics point accusing finger|work=Belfast Telegraph|date=12 December 1996|publisher=Media Huis|accessdate=6 June 2023}}
Death
On 20 September 2020, it was announced that Cook had died after being diagnosed with COVID-19 during the pandemic.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-54226208|title=David Cook: Former Belfast Lord Mayor dies with Covid-19|publisher=BBC News|date=20 September 2020 |accessdate=20 September 2020}} According to his family, he died on 19 September 2020, at Craigavon Area Hospital. He had had a stroke two years before.{{cite news |last=White|first=Laurence|url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/david-cook-was-the-voice-of-the-middle-political-ground-and-an-avid-historian-who-became-lord-mayor-39546337.html|title=David Cook was the voice of the middle political ground and an avid historian who became Lord Mayor|work=Belfast Telegraph|date=20 September 2020|publisher=Media Huis|accessdate=23 September 2020}}{{subscription required}} He was survived by his wife Fionnuala, his sisters Alison and Nora, his daughter Barbary, his sons John, Patrick, Julius, and Dominic, and his granddaughters Romy and Imogen.{{cite news |title=David Cook obituary: A trailblazing and courageous politician |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/david-cook-obituary-a-trailblazing-and-courageous-politician-1.4400118 |date=7 November 2020 |access-date=8 November 2020 |publisher=The Irish Times}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-par|ni/ass82}}
{{s-new | assembly}}
{{s-ttl
| title = MPA for South Belfast
| years = 1982–1986
}}
{{s-non | reason = Assembly abolished }}
{{s-civ}}
{{succession box | title=Lord Mayor of Belfast | before=James Stewart | after=Billy Bell | years= 1978–79}}
{{s-ppo}}
{{succession box|title=Deputy Leader of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland|years=1980–84|before=Basil Glass|after=Addie Morrow}}
{{s-end}}
{{Alliance Party of Northern Ireland}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, David}}
Category:Alliance Party of Northern Ireland politicians
Category:Members of Belfast City Council
Category:Lord mayors of Belfast
Category:Northern Ireland MPAs 1982–1986
Category:Solicitors from Northern Ireland
Category:Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Northern Ireland
Category:Alliance Party of Northern Ireland councillors