{{Short description|Northern Irish unionist politician}} {{distinguish|David Calvert-Smith}} {{about||the Australian politician|David Calvert (Australian politician)|the sport shooter|David Calvert (sport shooter)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2017}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = David Calvert | office = Member of Craigavon Borough Council | constituency = Craigavon | term_start = 15 May 1985 | term_end = 17 May 1989 | predecessor = District created | successor = Ruth Allen | constituency1 = Craigavon Area D | term_start1 = 30 May 1973 | term_end1 = 15 May 1985 | predecessor1 = District created | successor1 = District abolished | office2 = Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly <br> for Armagh | term_start2 = 20 October 1982 | term_end2 = 1986 | birth_date = 1946 | birth_place = County Armagh, Northern Ireland | death_date = | party = Traditional Unionist Voice (since 2007) <br/> Democratic Unionist (1971 - 1993) | other_party = Independent Unionist (2001 - 2007) }}
'''David Calvert''' (born 1946) is a Northern Irish unionist politician. He worked as a director of a family shirt manufacturing company. He was a founder member of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in County Armagh.<ref name="times">''Times Guide to the House of Commons, May 1979'', p. 36</ref>
==Career== He was elected to Craigavon Borough Council in 1973,<ref>[http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/73-81lgcraigavon.htm The Local Government Elections 1973-1981: Craigavon], Northern Ireland Elections</ref> and held his seat until he stood down in 1989.<ref>[http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/85-89lgcraigavon.htm Local Government Elections 1985-1989: Craigavon], Northern Ireland Elections; accessed 11 November 2015.</ref>
He stood for the party in Fermanagh and South Tyrone at the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention election in 1975, but was not elected.<ref>[http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/cfst.htm Fermanagh and South Tyrone 1973-1982], Northern Ireland Elections; accessed 11 November 2015.</ref>
He then moved to Armagh, which he contested at the 1979 UK general election, but took only 8.6% of the vote.<ref name="armagh73">[http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/carmagh.htm Armagh 1973-1983], Northern Ireland Elections; accessed 11 November 2015.</ref>
In the early 1980s, Calvert was Deputy Chairman of the DUP,<ref>''Dod's parliamentary companion, Issue 164'', p. 557</ref> and in the 1982 Northern Ireland Assembly election, he won a seat.<ref name="armagh73"/> In 1987, he was seriously injured in an assassination attempt on his life by the Irish National Liberation Army, but recovered fully.<ref>Coogan, Tim Pat, ''The IRA'', p. 357<!--publisher; ISSN/ISBN needed--></ref> The INLA had also tried to kill him in 1981.<ref>''The Belfast Telegraph'', 19 September 1983.</ref> He fell out with the DUP in 1993, in a dispute over candidate selection, and was expelled from the party.<ref name="gordon">Gareth Gordon, "[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6162581.stm Murmurs of 'betrayal' over power-sharing]", ''BBC News'', 8 December 2006</ref>
Calvert stood as an independent candidate in Craigavon at the 2001 local elections, and narrowly missed taking a seat. He stood again in 2005, without success.<ref>[http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/lgcraigavon.htm Craigavon Borough Council Elections 1993-2005], Northern Ireland Elections</ref> In 2006, he attended a meeting of critics of the Belfast Agreement, addressed by Robert McCartney of the UK Unionist Party,<ref name="gordon"/> but at the 2007 Assembly election he stood as an independent again, this time in Upper Bann, taking 3.1% of the vote.<ref>[http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/aub.htm Upper Bann], Northern Ireland Elections; accessed 11 November 2015.</ref>
Following the elections, Calvert joined Traditional Unionist Voice, and stood for the party in a by-election to Craigavon Borough Council in January 2010, taking a distant second place.<ref>"[http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/breaking-news/uk-ireland/ulster-unionists-win-byelection-14635607.html Ulster Unionists win by-election]", ''Belfast Telegraph'', 14 January 2010.</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-par|ni/ass82}} {{s-new | Assembly }} {{s-ttl | title = MPA for Armagh | years = 1982–1986 }} {{s-non | reason = Assembly abolished }} {{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Calvert, David}} Category:1946 births Category:Living people Category:Members of Craigavon Borough Council Category:Democratic Unionist Party councillors Category:Northern Ireland MPAs 1982–1986 Category:Traditional Unionist Voice politicians Category:Date of birth missing (living people) Category:Place of birth missing (living people)