# James Kilfedder

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{{Short description|British politician (1928–1995)}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix =
| name             = Sir James Kilfedder
| honorific_suffix = 
| image            = 
| order            = 
| office           = Leader of the [Ulster Popular Unionist Party](/source/Ulster_Popular_Unionist_Party)
| term_start       = 1980
| term_end         = 20 March 1995
| predecessor      = Party created
| successor        = Party dissolved
| office1          = [Member of Parliament](/source/Member_of_Parliament_(United_Kingdom)) <br /> for [North Down](/source/North_Down_(UK_Parliament_constituency))
| term_start1      = 18 June 1970
| term_end1        = 20 March 1995
| predecessor1     = [George Currie](/source/George_Currie_(Northern_Irish_politician))
| successor1       = [Robert McCartney](/source/Robert_McCartney_(Northern_Ireland_politician))
| office2          = [Member of Parliament](/source/Member_of_Parliament_(United_Kingdom)) <br /> for [Belfast West](/source/Belfast_West_(UK_Parliament_constituency))
| term_start2      = 15 October 1964
| term_end2        = 10 March 1966
| predecessor2     = [Patricia McLaughlin](/source/Patricia_McLaughlin)
| successor2       = [Gerry Fitt](/source/Gerry_Fitt)
| birth_name       = James Alexander Kilfedder
| birth_date       = {{Birth date |1928|07|16|df=y}}
| birth_place      = [Kinlough](/source/Kinlough), [County Leitrim](/source/County_Leitrim), Ireland
| death_date       = {{Death date and age|1995|03|20|1928|07|16|df=y}}
| death_place      = [London](/source/London), England
| party            = [UUP](/source/Ulster_Unionist_Party) {{small|(until 1977)}}<br />[UPUP](/source/Ulster_Popular_Unionist_Party) {{small|(1980–1995)}}
| majority         = 
| alma_mater       = [Trinity College, Dublin](/source/Trinity_College%2C_Dublin) <br /> [King's Inns](/source/King's_Inns) <br /> [Gray's Inn](/source/Gray's_Inn)
| spouse           = [Never married](/source/Bachelor)
| profession       = Barrister
| resting_place    = [Roselawn Cemetery](/source/Roselawn_Cemetery), [East Belfast](/source/Belfast), Northern Ireland 
}}

'''Sir James Alexander Kilfedder''' (16 July 1928 – 20 March 1995), usually known as '''Sir Jim Kilfedder''', was a [Northern Irish](/source/Northern_Ireland) [unionist](/source/Unionism_(Ireland)) politician. He was the last unionist to represent [Belfast West](/source/Belfast_West_(UK_Parliament_constituency)) in the [House of Commons](/source/House_of_Commons_of_the_United_Kingdom).<ref name="Independent">{{Cite news |author=Dalyell |first=Tam |author-link=Tam Dalyell |date=22 March 1995 |title=OBITUARY:Sir James Kilfedder |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-sir-james-kilfedder-1612235.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210812094132/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-sir-james-kilfedder-1612235.html?amp |archive-date=12 August 2021 |newspaper=[The Independent](/source/The_Independent)}}</ref>

==Early life==

Jim Kilfedder born in [Kinlough](/source/Kinlough), a village in the north of [County Leitrim](/source/County_Leitrim) in what was then the [Irish Free State](/source/Irish_Free_State).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Maume |first=Patrick |date=September 2014 |title=Kilfedder, Sir James |url=https://www.dib.ie/biography/kilfedder-sir-james-a4543 |access-date=7 May 2025 |website=[Dictionary of Irish Biography](/source/Dictionary_of_Irish_Biography) |doi=10.3318/dib.004543.v1}}</ref> His family later moved to [Enniskillen](/source/Enniskillen) in neighbouring [County Fermanagh](/source/County_Fermanagh) in [Northern Ireland](/source/Northern_Ireland), where Jim was raised.<ref name="Independent"/> Kilfedder was educated at [Portora Royal School](/source/Portora_Royal_School) in Enniskillen and at [Trinity College, Dublin](/source/Trinity_College%2C_Dublin) (TCD).<ref name="Independent"/> During his time at TCD, he acted as Auditor of the [College Historical Society](/source/College_Historical_Society), one of the oldest undergraduate debating societies in the world.<ref>{{Cite news |date=23 March 1995 |title=Lone Star of Ulster |url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/?clipping_id=22163847&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjI2MDc1MDQ4MCwiaWF0IjoxNjQzNjkwNjUxLCJleHAiOjE2NDM3NzcwNTF9.cArnxRoGR1I-wV8QXbYUxUPmk4dGy7ensB_SEdUvoaI |url-access=registration |newspaper=[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian) |via=[Newspapers.com](/source/Ancestry.com)}}</ref> He became a barrister, called to the Irish Bar at [King's Inns](/source/King's_Inns), Dublin, in 1952 and to the [English Bar](/source/Barristers_in_England_and_Wales) at [Gray's Inn](/source/Gray's_Inn) in 1958. He practised law in London.

==Political career==

At the [1964 general election](/source/1964_United_Kingdom_general_election), Kilfedder was elected as an [Ulster Unionist Party](/source/Ulster_Unionist_Party) (UUP) Member of Parliament for [West Belfast](/source/Belfast_West_(UK_Parliament_constituency)). During the campaign, there were riots in Divis Street when the [Royal Ulster Constabulary](/source/Royal_Ulster_Constabulary) (RUC) removed an [Irish flag](/source/Flag_of_Ireland) from the [Sinn Féin](/source/Sinn_F%C3%A9in) offices of [Billy McMillen](/source/Billy_McMillen). This followed a complaint by Kilfedder in the form of a telegram to the Minister of Home Affairs, [Brian McConnell](/source/Brian_McConnell). It read "Remove tricolour in Divis Street which is aimed to provoke and insult loyalists of Belfast."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Boyd |first=Andrew |title=Holy War in Belfast |publisher=Anvil Books |year=1969 |chapter=Chapter 11 -  1964: The Tricolour riots |chapter-url=https://cain.ulster.ac.uk/othelem/docs/boyd69.htm |via=[CAIN](/source/Conflict_Archive_on_the_Internet)}}</ref> Kilfedder lost his seat at the [1966 election](/source/1966_United_Kingdom_general_election) to [Gerry Fitt](/source/Gerry_Fitt). He was elected again in the [1970 general election](/source/1970_United_Kingdom_general_election) for [North Down](/source/North_Down_(UK_Parliament_constituency)), and held the seat until his death in 1995.

Kilfedder was elected for North Down in the 1973 Assembly election, signing [Brian Faulkner](/source/Brian_Faulkner)'s pledge to support the White Paper which eventually established the [Sunningdale Agreement](/source/Sunningdale_Agreement) but becoming an anti-White Paper Unionist<ref>{{cite web |author=Whyte |first=Nicholas |date=8 November 2005 |orig-date=25 March 2003 |title=North Down 1973–1982 |url=http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/cnd.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930185624/http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/cnd.htm |archive-date=30 September 2007 |access-date=21 May 2020 |work=[ARK](/source/ARK_(Northern_Ireland))}}</ref> after the election. In 1975 he stood for the same constituency in the [Constitutional Convention](/source/Northern_Ireland_Constitutional_Convention) election, polling over [three quotas](/source/North_Down_(Assembly_constituency)) as a UUP member of the [United Ulster Unionist Coalition](/source/United_Ulster_Unionist_Coalition) (UUUC) although he refused to sign the UUUC's pledge of conduct.

He left the UUP in 1977<ref>{{cite web |author=Whyte |first=Nicholas |date=12 Jan 2005 |orig-date=13 March 2000 |title=The 1995 North Down by-election |url=http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/fnd95.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200308045247/https://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/fnd95.htm |archive-date=8 March 2020 |access-date=21 May 2020 |work=[ARK](/source/ARK_(Northern_Ireland))}}</ref> in opposition to the party's policies tending to integrationism,{{clarify|date=April 2015}} preferring to advocate the restoration of the [Stormont administration](/source/Parliament_of_Northern_Ireland). For a time he sat as an "Independent Ulster Unionist". He 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](/source/Harry_West) on transfers.<ref>{{cite web |author=Whyte |first=Nicholas |date=30 May 2009 |orig-date=18 April 2004 |title=The 1979 European Election |url=http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/fe79.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070607184958/http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/fe79.htm |archive-date=7 June 2007 |access-date=21 May 2020 |work=[ARK](/source/ARK_(Northern_Ireland))}}</ref>

In 1980, he formed the [Ulster Popular Unionist Party](/source/Ulster_Popular_Unionist_Party) (UPUP) and was re-elected under that label in all subsequent elections. He again [topped the poll](/source/North_Down_(Assembly_constituency)) in the [1982 Assembly election](/source/1982_Northern_Ireland_Assembly_election) and was elected as Speaker of the Assembly<ref>Robert Waller, ''[Almanac of British Politics](/source/Almanac_of_British_Politics)'', 3rd edition</ref> (to 1986). He generally took the [Conservative](/source/Conservative_Party_(UK)) whip at Westminster.<ref>Waller and Criddle, ''Almanac of British Politics'', 6th edition</ref> Whilst Speaker, he was paid more than the [Prime Minister](/source/Prime_Minister_of_the_United_Kingdom).<ref name="Independent"/>

==Death and legacy==

On 20 March 1995, while travelling by train into London from [Gatwick Airport](/source/Gatwick_Airport), Sir Jim Kilfedder died of a heart attack. This was the same day that the ''[Belfast Telegraph](/source/Belfast_Telegraph)'' carried a front-page story saying that an [Ulster](/source/Ulster) MP had been targeted as one of twenty MPs invited by the [LGBT rights](/source/LGBT_rights) organisation [OutRage!](/source/OutRage!) in a letter to [come out](/source/coming_out).<ref>{{Cite book |last=McLaren |first=Angus |title=Sexual Blackmail: A Modern History |publisher=[Harvard University Press](/source/Harvard_University_Press) |year=2002 |isbn=9780674009240}}</ref>

He died unmarried, survived by two sisters. Kilfedder was described as <blockquote>"a phenomenon or perhaps a left-over from a remote era of Northern Irish politics when Ulster was represented by such figures as [Lord Robert Grosvenor](/source/Robert_Grosvenor%2C_5th_Duke_of_Westminster), Major [Robin Chichester-Clark](/source/Robin_Chichester-Clark), [Stratton Mills](/source/Stratton_Mills), and [Rafton Pounder](/source/Rafton_Pounder)."<ref name="Independent"/></blockquote>

Kilfedder was described by [Democratic Unionist Party](/source/Democratic_Unionist_Party) [MLA](/source/Member_of_the_Legislative_Assembly_(Northern_Ireland)) [Peter Weir](/source/Peter_Weir_(politician)) as "the best MP North Down ever had."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Your local DUP Representative: Peter Weir MLA |url=http://www.dup.org.uk/PeterWeir.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080609071247/http://www.dup.org.uk/PeterWeir.asp |archive-date=9 June 2008 |access-date=15 June 2008 |website=[Democratic Unionist Party](/source/Democratic_Unionist_Party)}}</ref>

The UPUP did not outlive him, and the [by-election for his Commons seat](/source/1995_North_Down_by-election) was won by [Robert McCartney](/source/Robert_McCartney_(Northern_Irish_politician)), standing for the [UK Unionist Party](/source/UK_Unionist_Party). McCartney had fought the seat in the 1987 general election as a "Real Unionist" with the backing of the [Campaign for Equal Citizenship](/source/Campaign_for_Equal_Citizenship). At the 1987 election count, in his victory speech, Kilfedder had "attacked his rival's supporters as 'a rag tag collection of people who shame the name of civil rights.' He said they included communists, Protestant paramilitaries and Gay Rights supporters and he promised to expose more in future."<ref>''Co. Down Spectator'', 18 June 1987</ref> McCartney lost North Down in 2001 to [Lady Hermon](/source/Sylvia_Hermon) of the UUP.

Kilfedder's personal and political papers (including constituency affairs) are held at the [Public Record Office of Northern Ireland](/source/Public_Record_Office_of_Northern_Ireland), reference D4127.

Kilfedder is buried in [Roselawn Cemetery](/source/Roselawn_Cemetery) in [East Belfast](/source/Belfast), [Northern Ireland](/source/Northern_Ireland).<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/aberdeen/hundreds-pay-their-respects-to-mp-1.688052|title=Hundreds pay their respects to MP|newspaper=[The Herald (Glasgow)](/source/The_Herald_(Glasgow)) |date=28 March 1995 |access-date=21 May 2020|archive-date=10 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140510062708/http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/aberdeen/hundreds-pay-their-respects-to-mp-1.688052|url-status=live}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

== External links ==
*{{hansard-contribs | mr-james-kilfedder | James Kilfedder }}

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{succession box
  | title  = Member of Parliament for [Belfast West](/source/Belfast_West_(UK_Parliament_constituency)) | before = [Patricia McLaughlin](/source/Patricia_McLaughlin) | after = [Gerry Fitt](/source/Gerry_Fitt)
  | years  = [1964](/source/1964_United_Kingdom_general_election)–[1966](/source/1966_United_Kingdom_general_election)}}
{{succession box
  | title  = Member of Parliament for [North Down](/source/North_Down_(UK_Parliament_constituency))  | before = [George Currie](/source/George_Currie_(Northern_Irish_politician)) | after = [Robert McCartney](/source/Robert_McCartney_(Northern_Irish_politician))
  | years  = [1970](/source/1970_United_Kingdom_general_election)–[1995](/source/1995_North_Down_by-election)
}}
{{s-par|ni/ass73}}
{{s-new | assembly}}
{{s-ttl
  | title  = [Assembly Member](/source/Northern_Ireland_Assembly_(1973)) for [North Down](/source/North_Down_(Assembly_constituency))
  | years = 1973–1974
}}
{{s-non | reason = Assembly abolished }}
{{s-par|ni/cc}}
{{s-new | Convention}}
{{s-ttl
  | title  = Member for [North Down](/source/North_Down_(Assembly_constituency))
  | years = 1975–1976
}}
{{s-non | reason = Convention dissolved }}
{{s-par|ni/ass82}}
{{s-new | assembly}}
{{s-ttl
  | title  = [MPA](/source/Member_of_the_Parliamentary_Assembly) for [North Down](/source/North_Down_(Assembly_constituency))
  | years = 1982–1986
}}
{{s-non | reason = Assembly abolished | rows=2}}
{{s-new | office}}
{{s-ttl|title=Speaker of the [Northern Ireland Assembly](/source/Northern_Ireland_Assembly_(1982))|years=1982–1986}}
{{s-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kilfedder, James}}
Category:1928 births
Category:1995 deaths
Category:Auditors of the College Historical Society
Category:Leaders of political parties in Northern Ireland
Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Down constituencies (since 1922)
Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Belfast constituencies (since 1922)
Category:Ulster Unionist Party MPs
Category:Independent members of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom
Category:Irish barristers
Category:Irish knights
Category:English barristers
Category:Knights Bachelor
Category:Members of Gray's Inn
Category:UK MPs 1964–1966
Category:UK MPs 1970–1974
Category:UK MPs 1974
Category:UK MPs 1974–1979
Category:UK MPs 1979–1983
Category:UK MPs 1983–1987
Category:UK MPs 1987–1992
Category:UK MPs 1992–1997
Category:Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly 1973–1974
Category:Members of the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention
Category:Northern Ireland MPAs 1982–1986
Category:People educated at Portora Royal School
Category:Politicians from County Leitrim
Category:20th-century lawyers from Northern Ireland
Category:Alumni of King's Inns
Category:20th-century English lawyers
Category:Lawyers from County Leitrim
Category:Lawyers from County Fermanagh

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [James Kilfedder](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Kilfedder) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Kilfedder?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.