David Browne (politician)

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David Browne
Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party on Belfast City Council
In office
22 May 2014 – 2 May 2019
LeaderMike Nesbitt
Robin Swann
Succeeded byJim Rodgers
Member of
Belfast City Council
In office
19 May 1993 – 4 May 2019
Preceded byFrank Millar
Succeeded byMal O'Hara
ConstituencyCastle
Member of the Northern Ireland Forum
for Belfast North
In office
30 May 1996 – 25 April 1998
Personal details
BornBelfast, Northern Ireland
NationalityBritish
Political partyUlster Unionist Party

David Hugh Browne MBE is a former Northern Irish unionist politician who was leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) on Belfast City Council from 2014 to 2019, and a Belfast City Councillor for the Castle DEA from 1993 to 2019.

Life[edit]

Browne was elected to Belfast City Council for the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) in the Castle electoral area at the 1993 elections.[1] He was then elected to the Northern Ireland Forum in Belfast North in 1996, but was unsuccessful when he stood for the same seat at the 1998 Northern Ireland Assembly election.[2]

Browne continued to hold his council seat for over 25 years, along with a variety of other civic posts. He was appointed as High Sheriff of Belfast in 2005[3] and, in 2008, he was elected as Deputy Lord Mayor of Belfast.[4] At the 2011 local elections, the UUP were reduced to three seats on the council, one of which was held by Browne,[5] who was subsequently appointed as an alderman.[3] In 2012, he was appointed as a Belfast Harbour Commissioner.[6] He was reappointed as an Alderman in 2015. As of 2017, he was also on the Duncairn Community Centre Committee, the North Belfast Partnership Board and the Northern Ireland Rural Development Programme.[7]

Browne lost his City Council seat in the 2019 local elections.[8]

Honours[edit]

Browne was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List of June 2013, cited for "services to Local Government in Northern Ireland."[9]

Personal life[edit]

Browne lived in the Skegoneill area of Belfast at the time of his first Council election[10] and still as of 2017.[7]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Belfast City Council Elections, 1993-2011". Elections. ARK. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  2. ^ "Northern Ireland Elections". Elections. ARK. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Alderman DAVID BROWNE". Belfast City Council. Archived from the original on 24 October 2013. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  4. ^ O'Hara, Victoria (3 June 2008). "Deal claims as SF man is new Mayor". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  5. ^ Henry, Lesley-Anne (11 May 2011). "Unionists discussing Belfast City Hall co-operation". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  6. ^ "New members appointed to Belfast Harbour Commissioners". Department of Regional Development, NI. Archived from the original on 20 April 2012. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  7. ^ a b "Alderman David Browne". Belfast City Council. Belfast City Council. Archived from the original on 2 January 2017. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  8. ^ "Once dominant party in Belfast reduced to just two councillors". ITV News. 4 May 2019. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  9. ^ "The Queen's Birthday Honours List / Order of the British Empire / Member". The London Gazette. Supplement 60534 (14 June 2013): B1/15. 15 June 2013. Retrieved 5 March 2020. For services to Local Government in Northern Ireland
  10. ^ McKay, Susan (2000). Northern Protestants: An Unsettled People (1st ed.). Belfast: Blackstaff Press. p. 64. ISBN 085640666X.
Northern Ireland Forum
New forum Member for North Belfast
1996–1998
Forum dissolved
Civic offices
Preceded by
Ruth Patterson
High Sheriff of Belfast
2005
Succeeded by
Preceded by
Bernie Kelly
Deputy Lord Mayor of Belfast
2008–2009
Succeeded by
Danny Lavery