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Cllr 'Michael McGimpsey' MLA (born July 1 1948) is a Northern Ireland unionist politician, property developer and Ulster Unionist Party Member of the Legislative Assembly for Belfast South.
McGimpsey was born in Donaghadee, County Down and attended Trinity College, Dublin. He is a businessman aside from politics involved in property development. In the mid 1980s he came to prominence alongside his brother Christopher when they challenged the Anglo-Irish Agreement by bringing a suit against the Irish government in the High Court of the Republic of Ireland, arguing that the Agreement was invalid because it contradicted Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution of Ireland. (This argument was unusual coming from Unionists because of the traditional Unionist opposition to these two articles.) The case failed in the High Court, and again on appeal to the Supreme Court.
In 1993 he was first elected to Belfast City Council. In 1998 McGimpsey was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly and served as Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure in the Northern Ireland Executive from 1999 until 2002.
In the run-up to the 2001 UK general election McGimpsey challenged sitting MP Martin Smyth for the Ulster Unionist nomination for Belfast South but lost by 2/3rds of the vote. Four years later Smyth retired and McGimpsey was selected in a close and bitter fight against an unknown figure, Christopher Montgomery to fight the constituency in the 2005 general election. He proved a highly controversial and divisive candidate. Former policeman James Spratt stood for the Democratic Unionist Party for the first time in over twenty years. In the fierce battle between the two Unionist parties both Smyth and former Ulster Unionist leader James Molyneaux endorsed Jimmy Spratt. When the results were declared McGimpsey was in third place, with the seat being won by the nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party politician and part time GP, Alasdair McDonnell due to the split Unionist vote.
In the Assembly election of March 2007 McGimpseys vote didn't hold up, receiving just 2500 first preferences with the loss of colleague Esmond Birnie. Jimmy Spratt topped the poll with 4500 votes with Alasdair McDonnell trailing not far behind.
McGimpsey was politically close to David Trimble and at one stage talked of as a future leader of the Ulster Unionist Party. However his poor election result meant that when Trimble resigned after the election McGimpsey was not considered in the contest to succeed him. It is understood that McGimpsey is keen to be re-selected by the Ulster Unionists to fight a second Westminster General election despite his previous poor performance. Politically McGimpsey is seen as being on the left of the Ulster Unionists and is a member of the Unionist Labour Group.