Albert McElroy

Who was Albert McElroy?

Albert Horatio McElroy was a minister of religion and politician in Northern Ireland.

Born in Glasgow, McElroy studied at Trinity College Dublin, then at Manchester College in Oxford .

McElroy joined the Northern Ireland Labour Party, in which he acted as an ally of Harry Midgley, and was elected as party Chair. He also became a local councillor. In 1942, Midgley split away to form the Commonwealth Labour Party. McElroy followed, and he stood for the party in Ards at the Northern Ireland general election, 1945. He was one of the more successful candidates, taking 41.5% of the vote, but was not elected. In 1947, Midgley disbanded the party and joined the Ulster Unionists. McElroy was the most prominent of a small group of members who instead returned to the NILP.

At the UK general election, 1950, McElroy stood for the NILP in North Down, receiving 20.6% of the votes cast, taking him to a distant second place. He stood again in the 1951 UK general election, but fell back to 18.6%.

McElroy became the Minister of the 1st Non-subscribing Presbyterian Church in Newtownards in 1954, a post he held until his death.