John Carson (politician)
John Carson is a former Northern Ireland Ulster Unionist Party politician.
A draper who owned a shop in the interface area of the Duncairn Gardens in north Belfast, Carson was elected to Belfast City Council in 1973. The following year he was elected as a member of the United Ulster Unionist Coalition as Member of Parliament for Belfast North from 1974. However, he was de-selected in 1979 after voting in favour of the Labour government in the crucial vote of confidence which they lost.
Despite this, he retained his popularity, topping the local government poll in the electoral area 'H', which included over half of the parliamentary seat. He also topped the poll in North Belfast at the 1982 Assembly elections.
Carson was Lord Mayor of Belfast from 1985–6 and in his capacity as a councillor was sometimes at odds with his party colleagues. For example, he attended a City Hall lunch attended by the then Secretary of State Tom King despite the Unionist policy of boycotting meetings with Government ministers in protest at the Anglo-Irish Agreement. For this he was threatened with expulsion from the UUP, which never happened.
He remained a member of Belfast City Council until 1997, when he lost his seat after 24 consecutive years on the council.
He married Martha in 1953 and had two daughters. They celebrated their Diamond Anniversary in 2013.
