William Craig (politician)

For other persons with the same name, see William Craig (disambiguation).

William Craig
Member of Parliament for Belfast East
In office 28 February 1974 – 3 May 1979
Preceded by	Stanley McMaster
Succeeded by	Peter Robinson
Personal details
Born	2 December 1924(1924-12-02) Cookstown, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland
Died	25 April 2011(2011-04-25) (aged 86) Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland
Nationality	British
Political party	Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party

William "Bill" Craig (2 December 1924 – 25 April 2011) was a Northern Irish politician best known for forming the Unionist Vanguard movement.

Biography

Early life

From Cookstown, County Tyrone, Craig was educated at Royal School Dungannon, Larne Grammar School and Queen's University Belfast.

After serving in the Royal Air Force (as a Lancaster bomber rear gunner) during World War II he became a solicitor.

Politics

He was active in the Ulster Unionist Party and led the Ulster Young Unionist Council. He was elected to the Stormont Parliament in a by-election in 1960 for Larne, and became a Minister in 1963. He held several portfolios under Terence O'Neill, eventually as Minister for Home Affairs. His most renowned action while in this office was to ban the march of Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association on 5 October 1968. He also accused the civil rights movement of being a political front for the IRA.

On 11 December 1968 O'Neill dismissed Craig when he suspected Craig was a supporter of an independent Northern Ireland. Craig began to build a powerbase for himself within unionism, becoming head of the Ulster Loyalist Association. The official Unionist Party withdrew the whip from him in May 1970 and Craig then began to prepare his own political party. The Ulster Vanguard movement was formed on 9 February 1972 under Craig's leadership (the Deputy Leaders were the Reverend Martin Smyth and Captain Austin Ardill).

Ulster Vanguard advocated a semi-independent Northern Ireland. Vanguard held a large rally on 18 March 1972 in Belfast's Ormeau Park at which Craig said "We must build up the dossiers on the men and women who are a menace to this country, because one day, ladies and gentlemen, if the politicians fail, it will be our duty to liquidate the enemy". Vanguard also staged a two-day strike in protest at the prorogation of the Stormont Parliament. In April 1972 Vanguard issued a policy statement 'Ulster - A Nation' which said that Northern Ireland might have to consider independence. In October he spoke at a meeting of the Conservative Monday Club, a group of right-wing MPs at Westminster. He told them he could mobilise 80,000 men to oppose the British government, adding "We are prepared to come out and shoot and kill. I am prepared to come out and shoot and kill, let's put the bluff aside. I am prepared to kill, and those behind me will have my full support." Vanguard progressed in March 1973 into the Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party.

The Vanguard Unionists under Craig formed part of the United Ulster Unionist Council which opposed the power-sharing Sunningdale Agreement. Craig was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly created under the Sunningdale Agreement, and he won a seat in the UK Parliament at the February 1974 election for East Belfast. However, in the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention in the mid-1970s, Craig broke with the majority of his party to support voluntary power-sharing. The Vanguard Unionists fell apart, with one section forming the United Ulster Unionist Party, and Craig lead the remains of Vanguard to rejoin the Ulster Unionist Party in 1978, but lost his seat in the 1979 election.

Craig subsequently broke with the Ulster Unionists once more. When elections were held for the new Northern Ireland Assembly in 1982, Craig revived the name Vanguard for his candidacy in East Belfast. However, he failed to get elected. This marked the effective end of Craig's political career. After a long period away from public life, he died on 25 April 2011. He had suffered a stroke the previous month.

References

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Stanley McMaster	Member of Parliament for Belfast East 1974–1979	Succeeded by Peter Robinson
Parliament of Northern Ireland
Preceded by Walter Topping	Member of Parliament for Larne 1960–1973	Succeeded by Position prorogued 1972 Parliament abolished 1973
Party political offices
Preceded by Isaac George Hawthorne	Unionist Chief Whip 1963	Succeeded by James Chichester-Clark
Preceded by new position	Leader of the Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party 1973–1978	Succeeded by position abolished
Political offices
Preceded by Isaac George Hawthorne	Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Finance 1963	Succeeded by James Chichester-Clark
Preceded by Brian Faulkner	Minister of Home Affairs 1963–1964	Succeeded by Brian McConnell
Preceded by William James Morgan	Minister of Health and Local Government 1964–1965	Succeeded by William James Morgan
Preceded by Newly Created Office	Minister of Development 1965–1966	Succeeded by William Kennedy Fitzsimmons
Preceded by Brian McConnell	Minister of Home Affairs 1966–1968	Succeeded by William Long