Joshua Cardwell

Joshua Cardwell (1910-1982) was a Unionist politician in Northern Ireland.

Born in Belfast and educated locally, Cardwell worked as the manager of a coal importing firm. [ [http://www.election.demon.co.uk/stormont/biographies.html Biographies of Members of the Northern Ireland House of Commons] ] In 1952 he was elected to Belfast City Council for Victoria Ward and later became an Alderman. In 1969 he was elected to the Parliament of Northern Ireland for Belfast Pottinger [ [http://www.election.demon.co.uk/stormont/belfast.html Northern Ireland Parliamentary Election Results: Belfast] ] as an 'O'Neill Unionist' supporting the reform proposals of the then Prime Minister. He remained a member until the Parliament was prorogued in 1972. In 1973 he was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly for Belfast East, as a pledged Unionist supporting the former Prime Minister Brian Faulkner. When the Ulster Unionist Party split in 1974, Cardwell became a founder member of the Unionist Party of Northern Ireland and was returned for Belfast East in the 1975 Constitutional Convention election.

He remained a member of Belfast City Council until his death representing 'Area B' [ [http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/73-81lgbelfast.htm The Local Government Elections 1973-1981: Belfast] , Northern Ireland Elections] equivalent to the current Victoria area.

In 1982, Cardwell was questioned by police in relation to his visits to Kincora Boys' Home, which had seen a child sex abuse scandal. He committed suicide soon afterwards. [Margaret Scanlan, "Plotting Terror: Novelists and Terrorists in Contemporary Fiction"]

The Joss Cardwell Centre in East Belfast was named in his honour although this recently closed. [ [http://www.ehssb.n-i.nhs.uk/meetings.nsf/e08c0c3ce35d5e5d802570ed004a9b45/bfacc9e67cc3bd0280257149003c0868/$FILE/Greenpark.pdf A Strategic Development Plan – Outline Business Case] , Green Park Healthcare Trust]

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