Jim Rodgers (politician)
Jim Rodgers | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 64th Lord Mayor of Belfast | |
| In office 1 June 2007 – 1 June 2008 | |
| Deputy | David Browne |
| Preceded by | Pat McCarthy |
| Succeeded by | Tom Hartley |
| 58th Lord Mayor of Belfast | |
| In office 1 June 2001 – 1 June 2002 | |
| Deputy | Hugh Smyth |
| Preceded by | Sammy Wilson |
| Succeeded by | Alex Maskey |
| Member of Belfast City Council | |
| Assumed office 22 May 2014 | |
| Preceded by | District created |
| Constituency | Ormiston |
| In office 19 May 1993 – 22 May 2014 | |
| Preceded by | Alan Montgomery |
| Succeeded by | District abolished |
| Constituency | Victoria |
| Member of the Northern Ireland Forum for Belfast East | |
| In office 30 May 1996 – 25 April 1998 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 06 Jan 1943 Belfast, Northern Ireland |
| Political party | Ulster Unionist Party |
| Other political affiliations | Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party (1973) |
Jim Rodgers OBE (b.1943) is a Northern Irish unionist politician who was Lord Mayor of Belfast from 2001 to 2002, and again from 2007 to 2008. Rodgers also served as the High Sheriff of Belfast from 2016 to 2017. A member of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), he has been a Belfast City Councillor for the Ormiston (formerly Victoria) DEA since 1993. Additionally, Rodgers is an appointed Alderman on the council.
Work
[edit]In 1973, he stood unsuccessfully as a candidate for the Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party in the election to the Northern Ireland Assembly.[1]
In 1996, he was elected to the Northern Ireland Peace Forum for East Belfast. Rodgers stood in the 1998, 2003 and 2007 Northern Ireland Assembly elections for East Belfast but was unsuccessful on each occasion. He is a councillor for Ormiston DEA on Belfast City Council and was elected as Lord Mayor of Belfast in 2001. Rodgers was again elected Lord Mayor in 2007, he had the backing of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) group on the council and the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP).[2]
Rodgers served on a variety of public bodies including Belfast Education and Library Board, Belfast District Policing Partnership, Sport Northern Ireland and the Northern Ireland Events Company. He is also a former director of Glentoran FC but resigned from his position a few days before a winding up order from HMRC was due to be heard by the High Court in January 2011. [3]
At a DPP meeting in Short Strand Community centre on 15 June 2009, he claimed he had been attacked with eggs and stones by members of the IRSP.[4]
In 2010, a council worker received a £24,000 payment for a back injury after Rogers tried to leapfrog over her during a council garden party.[5]
In the run up to the 2019 Local Government Election, a leaflet for Mr Rodgers and fellow UUP councillor Peter Johnston alleged that the Alliance Party was "closely aligned" with the "IRA's political wing". The leaflet was widely condemned, with the UUP stating it was not sanctioned by the party. Rodgers had the party whip removed and was referred to the party's disciplinary committee.[6]
References
[edit]- ^ "Northern Ireland elections". Archived from the original on 23 June 2018. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
- ^ "Belfast gets new Sinn Fein mayor". BBC News. 3 June 2008. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
- ^ "Glentoran FC winding-up petition dismissed by court". BBC News. 13 January 2011. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
- ^ "Eggs and Stones thrown at Jim Rodgers". BBC News. 16 June 2009. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
- ^ "£24k paid to worker hurt by leapfrog Lord Mayor Jim Rodgers". Belfast Telegraph. 15 October 2010. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
- ^ "UUP councillor Jim Rodgers facing disciplinary action by party over anti-Alliance leaflet". Belfast Telegraph. 6 May 2019. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
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