Fred Cobain

Fred Cobain
MBE
Fred Cobain MBE
Member of Belfast City Council
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 2 May 2019
Preceded by	Lydia Patterson
Constituency	Castle
	In office; 5 May 2005 – 27 August 2010
Preceded by	Billy Hutchinson
Succeeded by	Fred Rodgers
Constituency	Oldpark
	In office; 15 May 1985 – 7 June 2001
Preceded by	District created
Succeeded by	Elaine McMillen
Constituency	Court
Member of Carrickfergus Borough Council
	In office; 30 December 2013 – 22 May 2014
Preceded by	David Hilditch
Succeeded by	Council abolished
Constituency	Carrick Castle
Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly; for Belfast North
	In office; 25 June 1998 – 2011
Preceded by	New Creation
Succeeded by	Paula Bradley
Personal details
Born	30 April 1946 (age 78); Belfast, Northern Ireland
Political party	Democratic Unionist Party (2013 - present)
Other political; affiliations	Ulster Unionist Party (until 2013)
Spouse	Sandra Cobain
Website	http://www.fredcobain.com

Fred Cobain, MBE (born 30 April 1946) is a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician from Northern Ireland, serving as a Belfast City Councillor for the Castle DEA since 2019 . He was previously an Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Belfast North from 1998 until 2011.

Political career

Cobain was first elected to Belfast City Council in 1985. He served as Lord Mayor of Belfast in 1990–1991. In 1996, he was an unsuccessful candidate in the Northern Ireland Forum election in North Belfast.^[1] He was later elected as an Ulster Unionist Party MLA for North Belfast in 1998.^[2]

Cobain was Chair of the Assembly's Committee for Social Development and served two terms on the Northern Ireland Policing Board^[3]

On 29 December 2007 he was named MBE in the New Year Honours 2008.

After the Christmas 2010 water crisis, Cobain supported a vote of no confidence in Regional Development Minister Conor Murphy, saying "At the end of the day in all of these issues the individual who leads the department is responsible and I have to say if this was any other part of the UK, or any other part of these islands, the minister would have been away weeks ago...This minister doesn't appear to accept any responsibility for anything."^[4]

He lost his seat in the 2011 Assembly election.

On 14 January 2013, Fred Cobain left the Ulster Unionist party which he had served for more than 30 years. He joined the Democratic Unionist Party saying the UUP was "riven with personal and policy divisions" and was "politically exhausted".^[5] Cobain was co-opted on to Carrickfergus Borough Council as a councillor for the Carrick Castle area.^[6]^[7] He ran for the DUP but failed to be elected to the Mid and East Antrim Borough Council in the May 2014 Elections.^[8] He was elected for the DUP to the Castle electoral area of Belfast City Council in the May 2019 Elections.

Family

He is married and has two children.

References

^ Northern Ireland elections
^ Northern Ireland Assembly Information Office (26 November 2003). "N.I. Assembly website". Niassembly.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 18 February 2010. Retrieved 20 April 2010.
^ "Our People – Fred Cobain MLA". Northern Ireland Policing Board. Archived from the original on 19 August 2006. Retrieved 19 February 2016. This is Mr Cobain's second term on the Board
^ "BBC News – Gregory Campbell backs Conor Murphy no confidence vote". BBC News Online. Retrieved 30 August 2012.
^ "BBC News – Fred Cobain leaves UUP and joins DUP". BBC News Online. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
^ McBride, Sam (19 December 2013). "DUP councillor David Hilditch gives seat to defector Fred Cobain". The News Letter. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
^ "Councillor Fred Cobain". Carrickfergus Borough Council. Archived from the original on 1 March 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
^ Whyte, Nicholas (16 November 2014). "Mid and East Antrim District Council Elections, 2014". Northern Ireland Social and Political Archive. Retrieved 19 February 2016.

Civic offices
Preceded by Sir Reg Empey	Lord Mayor of Belfast 1990–1991	Succeeded by Nigel Dodds
Northern Ireland Assembly
New assembly	MLA for Belfast North 1998–2011	Succeeded by Paula Bradley

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[1] Northern Ireland elections

[2] Northern Ireland Assembly Information Office (26 November 2003). "N.I. Assembly website". Niassembly.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 18 February 2010. Retrieved 20 April 2010.

[3] "Our People – Fred Cobain MLA". Northern Ireland Policing Board. Archived from the original on 19 August 2006. Retrieved 19 February 2016. This is Mr Cobain's second term on the Board

[4] "BBC News – Gregory Campbell backs Conor Murphy no confidence vote". BBC News Online. Retrieved 30 August 2012.

[5] "BBC News – Fred Cobain leaves UUP and joins DUP". BBC News Online. Retrieved 14 January 2013.

[6] McBride, Sam (19 December 2013). "DUP councillor David Hilditch gives seat to defector Fred Cobain". The News Letter. Retrieved 19 February 2016.

[7] "Councillor Fred Cobain". Carrickfergus Borough Council. Archived from the original on 1 March 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2016.

[8] Whyte, Nicholas (16 November 2014). "Mid and East Antrim District Council Elections, 2014". Northern Ireland Social and Political Archive. Retrieved 19 February 2016.

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