Reg Empey

Reg Empey (born October 26, 1947, Belfast, Northern Ireland) is a politician who served as a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (1998–2011) and as leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP; 2005–2010).

Empey attended Queen’s University Belfast, earning a degree in economics in 1970. After graduating, he worked in the private sector, with stints at Goodyear and at the retailer House of Fraser, before establishing his own clothing business in 1986. That such an undertaking was risky during the “Troubles” (factional strife between the Protestant and Catholic communities of Northern Ireland) was especially clear to Empey, who during the 1970s had worked at a Belfast store—located across the street from a British army barracks—that was damaged in a bomb attack by the Irish Republican Army (IRA).

Though he had dabbled in politics as a university student, serving as an officer in a number of unionist parties, Empey’s political career began in earnest in 1985 with a seat on the Belfast city council. From 1985 to 1989 he served as a member of the Belfast Harbour Commissioners, and his service to the city led to his appointment as lord mayor of Belfast in 1989–90 and 1993–94.

Beginning in 1994, Empey’s influence spread far beyond the Belfast city limits. That year he began the first of two consecutive four-year terms on the European Union (EU) Committee of the Regions, a political body that gave voice to local governments in matters of EU policy. During the multi-year talks that led to the Belfast Agreement (Good Friday Agreement) in 1998, Empey acted as the senior UUP negotiator, and he was a moderating force on the sometimes heated discussions over the decommissioning of the IRA. In 1998 he was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly, representing the constituency of Belfast East, and the following year he was appointed minister of enterprise, trade, and investment under UUP first minister David Trimble.

When Trimble stepped down as UUP leader following an electoral drubbing in the British parliamentary contest of 2005 (the party had been reduced from 10 seats in 1997 to 6 in 2001 and to only 1 in 2005), Empey was elected to succeed him. Empey’s main priority as UUP leader was to check the advances made by the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in the Northern Ireland Assembly, as well as in the British Parliament. While the UUP continued to suffer at the polls in 2007, that year Empey took over the ministry of employment and learning in the restored Northern Ireland Executive. In the British general election of 2010, Empey failed to win the constituency of Antrim South, and the UUP won no seats to the House of Commons. Shortly thereafter Empey announced that he would be stepping down as party leader. In September 2010 he was succeeded by Tom Elliott. In January 2011 Empey was made a Conservative life peer as Baron Empey of Shandon. In March 2011 he announced that he would stand down from his seat in the Northern Ireland Assembly so as to better represent his constituency in the House of Lords.

In 1994 Empey was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his service to local government, and he was promoted to Knight Commander (KBE) in 1999.