The Rt Hon William Craig
MP for East Belfast 1974-1979
2 December 1924-25 April 2011
A surprising call for a voluntary coalition effectively ended William Craig’s career but his contribution to Northern Ireland’s politics was arguably more destructive than constructive. With fiery rhetoric, he competed with Ian Paisley for the leadership of hardline loyalism in the early 1970s.
His power-sharing gamble lost him a party and cost him his East Belfast seat, snatched by 64 votes by a young Peter Robinson in 1979.
Craig had been a rising star in government but sparked rioting by banning the Derry civil rights march as Home Affairs Minister in October 1968. Increasing tension between him and Terence O’Neill led to his dismissal.
Born in Cookstown, he joined the RAF in World War Two and was a rear gunner in Lancaster bombers. After the war, Craig qualified as a solicitor and entered Stormont as MP for Larne in 1960.
A brief succession of high profile ministries followed in home affairs (1963- 1964), health and local government (1964-1965) and development (1965- 1966), before a return to home affairs in October 1966. Establishing the ‘new town’ of Craigavon was his main legacy but nationalists claimed he was ignoring Derry’s needs.
His rhetoric grew increasingly rebellious on the backbenches. Brian Faulkner was embarrassed to share the Stormont balcony with him when direct rule was imposed in March 1972. Later that year, Craig survived an IRA assassination attempt when a sniper hit his car. The Ulster Workers’ Council strike, which he organised alongside Paisley, brought down power-sharing in May 1974.
By that point, Craig was leading Vanguard, a hardline new party which attracted disillusioned young unionists such as David Trimble and Reg Empey. The militant Vanguard rallies included rows of masked men and Craig darkly warned that republicans could be ‘liquidated’. The party gained more backing than the DUP in the February 1974 election, when he won East Belfast.
The continuing Troubles and unionist weakness under direct rule prompted him to turn moderate in the Constitutional Convention talks, in the hope of restoring devolution. The proposal provoked anger from Paisley and many of Craig’s own followers. Craig opposed the 1977 loyalist strike, wound up Vanguard in 1978 and briefly returned to the UUP fold. After a last stand in the 1982 Assembly elections, he retired reclusively from politics.
Former allies have described him as humorous and thoughtful in private, taking a federalist view of the union. His health declined, partly from heavy drinking, and he had recently suffered a stroke. William Craig is survived by his German-born wife, Doris, and his two sons who both served in the RUC.
