James Leslie

Who was James Leslie?

James Seymour Leslie was a Unionist politician in Northern Ireland.

Born in Singida, Tanzania, and educated at Eton College, Leslie read law and land economy at Queens' College, Cambridge, before becoming a merchant banker. Despite having no experience in politics, he was elected as an Ulster Unionist Party member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for North Antrim in 1998.

Leslie did not stand in the Northern Ireland Assembly election, 2003. In 2006, he resigned from the UUP and joined the Conservatives in Northern Ireland. In the same year, he was appointed High Sheriff of Antrim.

Leslie stood for the Conservatives in North Down at the Northern Ireland Assembly election, 2007, but was not elected. He died aged 50 on 22 February 2009, of a suspected heart attack while on holiday in Costa Rica.