William Wright (businessman)
William Thompson Wright (born 1925) is a Northern Irish business owner and former Unionist politician.
Wright grew up in Ballymena, and first came to prominence in the late 1950s, when he joined his father's company, a vehicle body building business.[1][2]
In the 1970s, Wright joined the Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party, and was elected as its Chairman.[3] He stood for the party in North Antrim at the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention election in 1975, and was elected.[4] He later followed the party leaders in joining the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), and was elected to Ballymena Borough Council for this new party at the Northern Ireland local elections, 1981,[5] He lost his seat at the 1985 election, and did not stand in 1989,[6] but was re-elected in 1993 and won again in 1997.[7] He also stood for the Northern Ireland Forum in 1996, but was not elected.[8] In 1998, he resigned from the UUP, and stood unsuccessfully in the 1998 Northern Ireland Assembly election as an independent Unionist.[9] He held his council seat in 2001, before finally standing down in 2005.[7]
Outside politics, Wright took over the family business, moving it into the construction of buses, a process which saw it become the Wright Group, with Wrightbus as its best-known subsidiary.[1] In the 2011 Birthday Honours, he was awarded the CBE.[10]
References
- ^ a b "Company History", The Wright Group
- ^ Margaret Canning, "Wrightbus boss drives off with Belfast Telegraph's top business award", Belfast Telegraph, 28 March 2014
- ^ Ted Nealon, Northern Ireland: A Parliamentary Directory, p.227
- ^ "North Antrim 1973-1982", Northern Ireland Elections
- ^ "The Local Government Elections 1973-1981: Ballymena", Northern Ireland Elections
- ^ "Local Government Elections 1985 - 1989: Ballymena", Northern Ireland Elections
- ^ a b "Ballymena Borough Council Elections 1993-2011", Northern Ireland Elections
- ^ "1996 Forum Elections: Candidates in North Antrim", Northern Ireland Elections
- ^ "North Antrim", Northern Ireland Elections
- ^ United Kingdom: "No. 59808". The London Gazette (1st supplement). 10 June 2011.
- 1925 births
- Living people
- Businesspeople from Northern Ireland
- Councillors in Northern Ireland
- Independent politicians in Northern Ireland
- Members of the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention
- People from Ballymena
- People in bus transport
- Ulster Unionist Party politicians
- Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party politicians