David Bleakley, OBE, PC (NI) (born 11 January 1925) is a politician in Northern Ireland. The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions; in decreasing order of seniority, these are Knight Grand Cross or Dame Grand Cross (GBE) Knight Commander... The Privy Council of Northern Ireland was a formal body of advisors to the Sovereign and was a vehicle for the monarchs prerogative powers in the province. ... January 11 is the 11th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1925 (MCMXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar). ... The Politics series Politics Portal This box:      A politician is an individual who is a formally recognized and active member of a government, or a person who influences the way a society is governed through an understanding of political power and group dynamics. ... Anthem: UK: God Save the Queen Regional: (de facto) Londonderry Air Capital Belfast Largest city Belfast Official languages English (de facto), Irish, Ulster Scots 3, BSL, NISL, ISL Government Constitutional monarchy  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister of the UK Tony Blair MP  - First Minister Ian Paisley  - Deputy First Minister...

Born in the Strandtown district of Belfast, Bleakley worked as an electrician in the dockyards while becoming increasingly active in his trade union. He studied economics at Ruskin College in Oxford, where he struck up a friendship with C. S. Lewis. He later attended Queen's University, Belfast. A committed Christian, he has been a lifelong Anglican - a member of the Church of Ireland - and was for a time a teacher at Methodist College, Belfast. Throughout his life, he has involved himself as a lay preacher, in a casual context. WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 54. ... An electrician hooking up a generator to a homes electrical panel. ... Small shipyard in Klaksvík (Faroe Islands), reparing fishing vessels Dockyards and shipyards are places which repair and build ships. ... A trade union or labor union is a continuous association of wage-earners for the purpose of maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment. ... Ruskin College is an independent college in Oxford, founded in 1899 and named after John Ruskin. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963), commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis, was an Irish author and scholar. ... Queens University Belfast is a university in Belfast, Northern Ireland and a member of the Russell League (the UKs top 20 research universities). ... Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland (Irish: Eaglais na hÉireann) is an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion, operating seamlessly across the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. ... In religious organizations, the laity comprises all lay persons, i. ...

Bleakley joined the Northern Ireland Labour Party (NILP) and contested the Northern Ireland Parliament seat of Belfast Victoria in 1949 and 1953 before finally winning it in 1958. At Stormont, he was made the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, but he lost his seat in 1965. The Northern Ireland Labour Party was a political party which operated from 1924 until the 1980s. ... The Parliament of Northern Ireland was the home rule legislature created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which existed from June 7, 1921 to March 30, 1972, when it was suspended. ... The Northern Ireland general election, 1949 was held on 19 February 1949. ... The Northern Ireland general election, 1953 was held on 22 October 1953. ... The Northern Ireland general election, 1958 was held on 20 March 1958. ... Stormont is Stormont, a suburb of Belfast Stormont Castle, a castle in the area Parliament Building of Northern Ireland, known as Stormont a nickname for the former Parliament of Northern Ireland and its unionist-dominated executive, the Government of Northern Ireland Stormont County an old county that is now a... The Northern Ireland general election, 1965 was held on 25 November 1965. ...

Bleakley ran for the Westminster seat of Belfast East in 1970, winning 40% of the vote. In 1971, Brian Faulkner appointed him as his Minister of Community Relations, but as Bleakley was not an MP, he could only hold this post for six months. He resigned five days before his term expired in protest at the use of internment.[1] Belfast East is a constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly. ... (Redirected from 1970 UK general election) The United Kingdom general election of 1970 was held on June 18, 1970, and resulted in a surprise loss of power for Labour under Harold Wilson, who was replaced as Prime Minister by the Conservative leader, Edward Heath. ... Arthur Brian Deane Faulkner, Baron Faulkner of Downpatrick (February 18, 1921 - March 3, 1977) was the sixth and last Prime Minister of Northern Ireland from 1971 until 1972. ... For other uses, see Internment (disambiguation). ...

After the Parliament was abolished, Bleakley stood for, and was elected to, the Northern Ireland Assembly and its successor, the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention. He stood again for Belfast East in the February and October UK general elections, but won only 14% of the vote each time. The 1973 elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly took place following the publication of the British governments white paper Northern Ireland Constitutional Proposals which proposed a 78-member Northern Ireland Assembly, elected by proportional representation. ... The Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention was an elected body set up in 1975 by the Labour government of Harold Wilson as an attempt to deal with constitutional issues surrounding the status of Northern Ireland. ... The UK general election of February 1974 was held on February 28, 1974. ... The UK general election of October 1974 took place on October 10, 1974. ...

By the late 1970s, the NILP was in disarray, and did not stand a candidate for the 1979 European Assembly election. Bleakley instead stood as an "Independent Community Candidate", but took only 1.6% of the votes cast. In politics, an independent is a politician who is not affiliated with any political party. ...

During the 1980s, Bleakley sat as a non-partisan member of various quangos, and in 1984 received an OBE. In 1992, he joined the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland and was an advisor to the group during the all-party talks. In 1998, he joined the Labour Party of Northern Ireland and stood in Belfast West in the Assembly elections, receiving 369 first preference votes. The same year, he published C. S. Lewis, at Home in Ireland. The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (APNI), is a political party operating in Northern Ireland. ... A specimen of the membership card for the Labour Party of Northern Ireland. ... Belfast West is a constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly. ...

References

• Politics.ie: David Bleakley
• The Lewis Legacy - Issue 84, Lewis and Ireland: Two New Books