Roy Bradford

Roy Bradford
Mayor of North Down
In office 1994–1995
Preceded by	Brian Wilson
Succeeded by	Susan O'Brien
Member of North Down Borough Council
In office 17 May 1989 – 7 June 2001
Preceded by	Cecil Braniff
Succeeded by	Royston Davies
Constituency	Bangor West
Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for East Belfast
In office 1973–1974
Minister of Development
In office 25 March 1971 – 30 March 1972
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Prime Minister	Brian Faulkner
Preceded by	Brian Faulkner
Succeeded by	Abolished
Minister of Commerce
In office 24 January 1969 – 23 March 1971
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Prime Minister	Terence O'Neill 1963–69 James Chichester-Clark 1969-1971
Preceded by	Brian Faulkner
Succeeded by	Robin Bailie
Member of Parliament for Belfast Victoria
In office 25 November 1965 – 30 March 1972
Preceded by	David Bleakley
Succeeded by	Parliament abolished
Majority	423 (3.2%)
Personal details
Born	Roy Hamilton Bradford 7 July 1921 Ligoniel, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Died	2 September 1998 (aged 77) Belfast, Northern Ireland
Nationality	British
Political party	Ulster Unionist Party
Other political affiliations	Unionist Party NI (1974)
Spouse	Hazel Bradford
Children	Conor Bradford
Alma mater	Trinity College Dublin
Occupation	Politician

Roy Hamilton Bradford (7 July 1921 – 2 September 1998) was a Northern Irish unionist politician. Bradford was a government minister in both the Parliament of Northern Ireland and the 1973 Northern Ireland Assembly.

Background

Born in Ligoniel in Belfast, Bradford studied at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution and Trinity College Dublin, where he was elected a Scholar. He then worked in British Army intelligence before moving to London, where he worked for the BBC and ITV. In 1960, he published a novel, Excelsior.

At the 1965 Northern Ireland general election, Bradford was elected for the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) in Belfast Victoria, defeating David Bleakley MP of the Northern Ireland Labour Party. In 1966, he was appointed as an Assistant Whip, then in 1968 as Chief Whip. From 1969 to 1971 he was the Minister of Commerce, becoming Minister of Development from 1971 to 1972.

At the 1973 Northern Ireland Assembly election, Bradford was elected in Belfast East. He sided in favour of the Sunningdale Agreement and remained loyal to Brian Faulkner, and was Minister in charge of the Department of the Environment until June 1974. He stood unsuccessfully in North Down at the February 1974 general election. He followed Brian Faulkner into the Unionist Party of Northern Ireland after the collapse of the power-sharing executive, but in June 1974 he returned to the UUP. He was not elected to the 1975 Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention.

Bradford completed a second novel, Last Ditch, in 1982. In 1989, he was elected to North Down Borough Council, where he joined his wife, Hazel, in the UUP group. He worked as a journalist, writing an influential weekly column in the Belfast News Letter and also served as a councillor and Mayor of North Down. In 1996, he was an unsuccessful candidate in the Northern Ireland Forum election in North Down.

His papers were deposited in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. Roy and Hazel Bradford's son, Conor Bradford, is a presenter of Good Morning Ulster for BBC Northern Ireland.