William James McClure MBE (15 June 1926 – 3 August 2014) was a Northern Irish unionist politician, based in Coleraine, who served as President of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).Belfast Newsletter 08-08-08
McClure was also a Coleraine Borough Councillor from 1977 to 2014.
Background Political career McClure was first elected in 1975 to the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention representing Londonderry.Convention election results 1975 , eoni.org.uk; accessed 1 June 2017. He was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly in 1982 for the same constituency.Londonderry election results , ark.ac.uk, accessed 2 June 2017 In 1977, he was elected to Coleraine Borough Council, representing the Area C District. serving as Mayor from 1983 to 1984, and from 1997 to 1999, and as Deputy Mayor from 1982 to 1983, 1985–93, and 2004–05. He served on the Coleraine Policing and Community Safety Partnership.
McClure remained a councillor until the reform of local government in 2014, which saw Coleraine Borough Council merge with the Limavady, Ballymoney and Moyle boroughs to create the Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council.
Personal life and death McClure was a fundamentalist Protestant and a member of the Independent Orange Order. He was an opponent of commercial trading, gambling and football games being played on Sundays, arguing that "the Christian Sabbath is a day for God not for gambling. It is a day for worshipping the Saviour, not for sport."Belfast Newsletter, 15-07-08, Portglenone 12th speech, newsletter.co.uk; accessed 1 June 2017.
McClure died on 3 August 2014 at the age of 88.Former Coleraine DUP mayor James McClure dies, aged 88, bbc.co.uk; accessed 1 June 2017.
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