William McCrea, Baron McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
The Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown
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Official portrait, 2022
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| Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal |
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| Assumed office 19 June 2018 Life peerage |
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| Member of Parliament for South Antrim |
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| In office 5 May 2005 – 30 March 2015 |
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| Preceded by | David Burnside |
| Succeeded by | Danny Kinahan |
| In office 21 September 2000 – 14 May 2001 |
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| Preceded by | Clifford Forsythe |
| Succeeded by | David Burnside |
| Member of Parliament for Mid Ulster |
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| In office 9 June 1983 – 8 April 1997 |
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| Preceded by | John Dunlop |
| Succeeded by | Martin McGuinness |
| Member of the Legislative Assembly for South Antrim |
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| In office 7 March 2007 – 1 July 2010 |
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| Preceded by | Paul Girvan |
| Succeeded by | Paul Girvan |
| Member of the Legislative Assembly for Mid-Ulster |
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| In office 25 June 1998 – 30 January 2007 |
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| Preceded by | Office created |
| Succeeded by | Ian McCrea |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 6 August 1948 Stewartstown, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland |
| Political party | Democratic Unionist Party |
| Children | 5 (including Ian McCrea) |
| Residences | Magherafelt, County Londonderry |
| Alma mater | Ravenhill Theological Hall |
| Occupation | Politician |
| Profession | Minister |
| Website | William McCrea website |
Robert Thomas William McCrea, Baron McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (born 6 August 1948) is a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician, Christian singer and retired Free Presbyterian minister from Northern Ireland. As a politician, he represented South Antrim and Mid Ulster as their Member of Parliament (MP), representing Mid Ulster from 1983 to 1997; then South Antrim between 2000 and 2001, and then again from 2005 to 2015.
McCrea was also a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Mid Ulster from 1998 to 2007, before moving to represent South Antrim in the Assembly from 2007 to 2010.
Early life and education
McCrea was the youngest of five children born to Robert Thomas (a farmer in Stewartstown, Northern Ireland) and Sarah Jayne in August 1948. He was educated in Magherafelt and spent a short time working in Social Security in the Civil Service of Northern Ireland before beginning training as a Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster minister. He undertook this training at Ravenhill Theological Hall, on the Ravenhill Road in Belfast.
McCrea received an Honorary Doctorate of Divinity from Mariette Bible College, Ohio, United States. (This institution is not certified by the Department of Higher Education or the State of Ohio.)
Career
McCrea was a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) member of Magherafelt District Council from its creation in 1973 until he stood down to concentrate on Westminster duties in 2010, and topped the poll in every local government election he contested from 1973–2005.
He ran unsuccessfully for the House of Commons at the 1982 Belfast South by-election. He was Member of Parliament for Mid Ulster from 1983 but lost this seat to Sinn Féin chief negotiator and deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness at the 1997 election. He took South Antrim at a by-election in 2000 caused by the death of Ulster Unionist Party MP, Clifford Forsythe, but failed to retain this seat at the 2001 election. In the 2005 election he regained the seat and he held it at the 2010 election. He was subsequently defeated by the Ulster Unionist Party in 2015.
In 1996, he was elected to the Northern Ireland Forum for Mid-Ulster. From 1998 to 2007 he was a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Mid Ulster. He was therefore a political representative for two separate constituencies (Mid Ulster and South Antrim) from 2000 to 2001 and from 2005 to 2007.
At the 2007 election, he was elected as an Assembly Member for South Antrim. He resigned from the Assembly in 2010, following his return to Westminster at the general election of that year.
He is also the minister of Magherafelt Free Presbyterian Church and has made numerous gospel albums.
McCrea was created a life peer on 19 June 2018, taking the title Baron McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown, of Magherafelt in the County of Londonderry and Cookstown in the County of Tyrone.
