12 Facts About James Kilfedder

Sir James Alexander Kilfedder, usually known as Sir Jim Kilfedder, was a Northern Irish unionist politician.

James Kilfedder was the last unionist to represent Belfast West in the House of Commons.

Jim Kilfedder born in Kinlough, a village in the north of County Leitrim in what was then the Irish Free State.

James Kilfedder was educated at Portora Royal School in Enniskillen and at Trinity College, Dublin.

James Kilfedder became a barrister, called to the Irish Bar at King's Inns, Dublin, in 1952 and to the English Bar at Gray's Inn in 1958.

At the 1964 general election, James Kilfedder was elected as an Ulster Unionist Party Member of Parliament for West Belfast.

James Kilfedder was elected again in the 1970 general election for North Down, and held the seat until his death in 1995.

James Kilfedder was elected for North Down in the 1973 Assembly election, signing Brian Faulkner's pledge to support the White Paper which eventually established the Sunningdale Agreement but becoming an anti-White Paper Unionist after the election.

James Kilfedder left the UUP in 1977 in opposition to the party's policies tending to integrationism, preferring to advocate the restoration of the Stormont administration.

James Kilfedder contested the 1979 European Parliament Election under that label, finishing fourth in the count for the three seats, having overtaken the UUP leader Harry West on transfers.

James Kilfedder again topped the poll in the 1982 Assembly election and was elected as Speaker of the Assembly.

On 20 March 1995, while travelling by train into London from Gatwick Airport, Sir Jim James Kilfedder died of a heart attack.