Former UUP MP Rev Martin Smyth dies aged 94

Former Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) MP, the Rev Martin Smyth, has died at the age of 94.

He served as grand master of the Orange Lodge at the height of the Troubles, between 1972 and 1998.

The Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland described Rev Smyth as “a leader of unwavering principle and determination through often difficult times and a stalwart of the Orange cause”.

UUP leader Mike Nesbitt said Rev Smyth’s “imprint will last forever”.

A Presbyterian minister, he resigned his ministry and was elected to parliament in the 1982 by-election following the assassination of the Rev Robert Bradford MP by the IRA.

He was an unsuccessful candidate for the UUP leadership in 1995 after the resignation of Lord Molyneaux, finishing fourth to the winner, David Trimble.

Nesbitt said that from his days as a broadcast journalist before he entered politics, Rev Smyth was “an ever-present heavyweight in local politics, whose views were always important”.

“He may not have been as prominent as others in the public sphere, but hugely influential behind the scenes,” the health minister said.

The softly-spoken Rev Martin Smyth was overshadowed in the 1980s and 1990s by loud, tub-thumping politicians.

However, no unionist had a better political CV.

He was a Protestant clergyman, head of the Orange Order and MP for South Belfast.

His views were conservative, staunch and often hardline.

Within the unionist community, he commanded huge respect.

He did not need to shout to be heard.