Misplaced Pages

The Right HonourableDavid AlderdiceOBE FRCPI
President of the Alliance Party
Incumbent
Assumed office June 2023
Leader	Naomi Long
Member of North Down Borough Council
In office 5 May 2005 – 31 July 2010
Preceded by	Susan O'Brien
Succeeded by	Andrew Muir
Constituency	Holywood
55th Lord Mayor of Belfast
In office 1 June 1998 – 1 June 1999
Deputy	Marie Moore
Preceded by	Alban Maginness
Succeeded by	Bob Stoker
Member of Belfast City Council
In office 21 May 1997 – 2005
Preceded by	John Alderdice
Succeeded by	Mervyn Jones
Constituency	Victoria
Personal details
Born	(1966-06-02) 2 June 1966 (age 58) Ballymena, Northern Ireland
Political party	Alliance Liberal Democrats
Spouse	Fiona Alderdice
Children	3
Relatives	John Alderdice (brother)
Alma mater	Queen's University Belfast (BSc)

David King Alderdice, OBE, FRCPI (born 2 June 1966) is a Northern Irish politician, doctor, and clergyman who was the Lord Mayor of Belfast and is President of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland.

Early life and personal

Born into a Presbyterian manse, Alderdice was educated at Ballymena Academy. His middle name, King, is after his great-great-grand-uncle, John King, a 19th-century Australian explorer and the sole survivor of the Burke and Wills expedition. He graduated in Medicine from Queen's University Belfast in 1989 and worked as a junior doctor in the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast. He moved to Oxford where he read PPE (1992–94) at Harris Manchester College, Oxford. He was an Elder in the Presbyterian Church in Ireland until 2019 when he resigned citing the narrowing of spiritual outlook in PCI and its intolerance of minorities as the reasons for leaving. He is currently Chair of the Church Committee of First Church Belfast which is the city’s oldest surviving place of worship. His brother is John Alderdice, Baron Alderdice.

Professional

As a trainee doctor he worked in Belfast, Oxfordshire and London. He was appointed as Consultant Dermatologist in 2002 initially working in the Causeway Trust (Northern Ireland) and then he moved to the South Eastern Trust in 2010. He is Clinical Director for Cancer Services (South Eastern Trust), Consultant Dermatologist and runs the Northern Ireland Regional Psychodermatology service. He was appointed President of the Irish Association of Dermatologists in September 2022.

Political career

He joined the Alliance Party in 1985 and was active in Young Alliance and Queens Alliance. He first ran for political office in Ballymena Borough Council elections while a medical student in 1989. He was the first Belfast City Councillor to be elected Lord Mayor of Belfast with votes from both Unionist and Nationalist Councillors. He welcomed many visitors and heads of state to the City in the period after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, including Vaclav Havel, Mary Robinson and Bill Clinton.

During his time as Lord Mayor of Belfast, dissident republicans detonated the Omagh bomb, the worst atrocity of The Troubles, killing 29 individuals. As leader of the Alliance Party City Hall group, Alderdice took the controversial decision to vote for Councillor Alex Maskey of Sinn Féin to be Lord Mayor in 2002 which resulted in violence from loyalists upon his family and home. He stood down from elected office after submitting his resignation in July 2010 which came into effect at the end of the month. In June 2023 he was elected President of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland.

Honours

He was awarded an OBE in 1999 for services to local government.

References

1. Murphy, Clare (25 May 1999). "Belfast council commended for breaking down barriers". The Irish Times. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
2. "English: President Bill Clinton, Prime Minster Tony Blair, David Trimble, Seamus Mallon and Lord Mayor David Alderdice address the Assembly of Northern Ireland in the Main Auditorium at Waterfront Hall". 3 September 1998.
3. Lowry, Ben (4 July 2008). "Violence erupts as mobs clash with riot police". Belfast Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
4. Cadwallader, Anne (16 February 2011). "Maskey named Belfast's first republican mayor". Irish Echo. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
5. "Councillor to stand down". Belfast Telegraph. 1 July 2010. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
6. "Muir to replace Alderdice". Belfast Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
7. "The Queen's birthday honours: Northern Ireland figures honoured". BBC News. 12 June 1999. Retrieved 31 July 2022.

• Mayors of Belfast
• 1966 births
• Living people