John Hunter (Northern Ireland politician)

John Hunter is a former Ulster unionist politician.

An active member of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), Hunter wrote A Brief History of the Ulster Unionist Council in 1993.^[1] Hunter was close to David Trimble and, unenthusiastic about Jim Molyneaux's leadership of the party, he backed Trimble's successful candidacy in the September 1995 leadership election.^[2] However, he rapidly became unhappy with Trimble's willingness to reconsider the party's views on the Irish republican movement.^[3] He accompanied Trimble to a meeting with John Major in June 1996, at which Major announced that he intended to ask George J. Mitchell to chair talks relating to the Northern Ireland peace process.^[4]

While Hunter occasionally attended the talks, which led to the Good Friday Agreement, he did not form part of the main talks team.^[5] He was elected to the Northern Ireland Forum in South Antrim.^[6] He opposed the Agreement, and although he was selected as a party candidate for the Northern Ireland Assembly election, 1998,^[7] but he was not elected.^[8]

Hunter was suggested as a possible UUP candidate in the South Antrim by-election, 2000,^[9] but the party instead stood David Burnside.

References

1. Richard English, Armed Struggle: The History of the IRA, p.444
2. Graham Walker, A History of the Ulster Unionist Party, p.250
3. Dean Godson, Himself Alone: David Trimble and the Ordeal of Unionism, p.168
4. Dean Godson, Himself Alone: David Trimble and the Ordeal of Unionism, p.221
5. Dean Godson, Himself Alone: David Trimble and the Ordeal of Unionism, p.298
6. "1996 Forum Elections: Candidates in South Antrim", Northern Ireland Elections
7. David McKittrick, "Splits open among Ulster Unionists", The Independent, 28 May 1998
8. "South Antrim", Northern Ireland Elections
9. John Mullin, "Death of MP splits Ulster Unionists over byelection", The Guardian, 28 April 2000