1. John McCallister was born on 20 February 1972 and is a former Northern Irish Unionist politician who was a Member of the Legislative Assembly for South Down from 2007 to 2016.
13 Facts About John McCallister
1. 2.
John McCallister was initially an Ulster Unionist Party representative, later serving as deputy leader, as well as an unsuccessful candidate in the 2012 leadership election.
3.
On 14 February 2013, McCallister announced that he had resigned from the UUP due to its decision to engage in an electoral pact with the Democratic Unionist Party.
4.
John McCallister was a co-founder of the NI21 party with fellow ex-UUP member Basil McCrea but resigned the following year following disputes with McCrea.
5.
John McCallister introduced the Bill which became the Caravans Act, 2011 to give legal protection to holiday-makers who stay in caravans and to people who live permanently in park homes.
6.
John McCallister has stated the importance of his party reaching out to Catholic voters.
7.
John McCallister fought the UUP leadership in March 2012 losing to Mike Nesbitt by 129 votes to 536.
8.
John McCallister was sacked by Mike Nesbitt as UUP deputy leader on 1 October 2012 for making a speech criticising unionist unity, which was seen by Nesbitt as an attack on his leadership.
9.
On 14 February 2013, John McCallister announced that he had resigned from the UUP in reaction to the decision to field a unionist unity candidate in the Mid-Ulster by-election.
10.
John McCallister declared that he would sit as an Independent Unionist in the Assembly.
11.
John McCallister criticised the move, which he labelled "crazy" and evidence of how "dysfunctional" NI21 had become.
12.
John McCallister alleged the decision had been made without proper consultation McCrea then demanded an explanation from John McCallister for his comments and stated the executive would discuss the comments.
13.
In July 2014 amid allegations of inappropriate behaviour by McCrea, John McCallister resigned to resume sitting in the Northern Ireland Assembly as an independent.