Harold McKee explained

Harold McKee
Order:Member of Newry, Mourne and Down District Council
Constituency:The Mournes
Term Start:2 May 2019
Term End:18 May 2023
Predecessor:Jill MacCauley
Successor:Jill Truesdale
Term Start1:22 May 2014
Term End1:5 May 2016
Successor1:Jill MacCauley
Office2:Member of the Legislative Assembly
for South Down
Assembly2:Northern Ireland
Term Start2:5 May 2016
Term End2:26 January 2017
Predecessor2:John McCallister
Successor2:Seat abolished
Office3:Member of Newry and Mourne District Council
Constituency3:The Mournes
Term Start3:5 May 2011
Term End3:22 May 2014
Predecessor3:Isaac Hanna
Successor3:Council abolished
Birth Date:28 December 1957
Birth Place:Kilkeel, Northern Ireland
Nationality:British
Party:TUV (2021 - present)
Otherparty:Ulster Unionist Party (until 2021)

Harold McKee is a Northern Irish unionist politician who was a Newry Mourne and Down Councillor for The Mournes DEA from 2014 to 2016, and then again from 2019 until 2023.

Formerly a member of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), McKee was a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for South Down from 2016 to 2017.

Career

McKee was first elected to Newry and Mourne District Council in the 2011 election for the Mournes.

He retained his seat on the newly-formed Newry, Mourne and Down District Council in the 2014 local elections.

At the 2015 general election, McKee contested South Down, where he finished third against the incumbent MP, Margaret Ritchie of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP).

At the 2016 Northern Ireland Assembly election, he was elected as one of six members of the South Down constituency. As an MLA, he was a member of the Committee for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, and tabled 297 questions during his term of office.At the 2017 snap Assembly election, he failed to retain his Assembly seat, when the number of seats were reduced from six to five.

At the 2017 general election, he again contested South Down, but came fourth, losing his deposit.

At the 2019 local elections, McKee returned to represent the Mournes on Newry, Mourne and Down District Council. In October 2021, McKee resigned from the UUP, citing disagreements with party leader Doug Beattie over 'liberal values', saying it was "becoming very difficult to endorse a leader who is constantly to the fore promoting liberal issues".[1]

McKee subsequently joined the Traditional Unionist Voice, and was the party's candidate for South Down in the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election, where he finished seventh.[2]

At the 2023 local elections, he lost his council seat.

References

Notes and References

  1. News: 2021-10-30 . Harold McKee: UUP councillor quits over party's 'liberal values' . en-GB . BBC News . 2022-03-07.
  2. News: South Down result - Northern Ireland Assembly Elections 2022 . en-GB . BBC News . 2022-05-06.