Norman Stronge - Political Career

Political Career

Sir Norman was appointed Sheriff of County Londonderry in January 1934. He was elected as an Ulster Unionist member of the Parliament of Northern Ireland for Mid Armagh in the byelection of 29 September 1938, and held the seat until his retirement in 1969. He made his maiden speech on 20 October, supporting the Marketing of Potatoes Bill.

In his career at Stormont, he became Assistant Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Finance (Assistant Whip) from 16 January 1941; on 6 February 1942 he was promoted to be Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Finance (Chief Whip). He held this post at the time when John Miller Andrews was deposed as Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and replaced by Sir Basil Brooke due to backbench pressure from Ulster Unionist MPs. On 3 November 1944 Sir Norman stood down from the government.

When the new Parliament assembled on 17 July 1945 Stronge was nominated as Speaker of the Northern Ireland House of Commons by Lord Glentoran, who said that Stronge came from a "family which has been known for generations for its fairness, its courtesy, and its neighbourliness, and for that feeling of kindliness which is so essential to the Speaker of this House". The nomination was seconded by Jack Beattie, a Nationalist who sat as an Independent Labour MP.

On 30 October 1945 Sir Norman was involved in a dispute in the chamber. A Minister in the government had been taken ill and was unable to answer a series of Parliamentary Questions which had been put to him; Stronge allowed the Members who had put the questions to defer them until the Minister had recovered. Jack Beattie protested that this was not correct procedure, and Stronge agreed to look at it further; this decision incensed Harry Midgley, who had personal grievances with Beattie, and Midgley shouted at Stronge "Are you not competent to discharge your duties without advice from this Member on his weekly visits to the House?" Despite Stronge calling for order, Midgley then crossed over and punched Beattie. Stronge excluded him from the Chamber for the rest of the sitting, and Midgley apologised the next day.

Sir Norman was appointed to the Privy Council of Northern Ireland in 1946. He was Chairman of Armagh County Council from 1944 to 1955. Amongst other positions he held were Lord Lieutenant of Armagh (1939 – 1981), (he was a Deputy Lieutenant from 1931) President of the Northern Ireland Council of the Royal British Legion and Justice of the Peace for both Counties Armagh and Londonderry. He was the Sovereign Grand Master of the Royal Black Institution and a member of Derryshaw Boyne Defenders Orange Lodge of the Orange Order. Sir Norman was appointed a Commander Brother of the Venerable Order of Saint John in 1952, and promoted to Knight in 1964.

In 1956, one of Stronge's outside posts caused a difficulty. He had been named on the Central Advisory Council on Disabled Persons, a position which brought no remuneration in practice but could have done so in theory. It was realised that the theoretical possibility of money being paid meant that this was an "Office of Profit under the Crown" which disqualified him from election. On 16 January 1956 Stronge wrote to resign his post as Speaker temporarily, so that legislation could be passed to validate his actions and indemnify him from the consequences of acting while disqualified. Owing to the constitutional provisions of the Government of Ireland Act, this legislation had to be passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

Once it had been passed, on 23 April 1956 the Speaker who had been elected temporarily (W. F. McCoy) resigned. Stronge was unanimously re-elected on 26 April, referring in his speech accepting nomination to his time away from Parliament looking after his farm: "I have had more time to look at bullocks, and more time to look at their prices".