Editing David Trimble (section)

{{Short description|First Minister of Northern Ireland from 1998 to 2002 (1944–2022)}}
{{For|the American politician|David Trimble (congressman)}}
{{Use Hiberno-English|date=March 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name             = The Lord Trimble
| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|PC}}
| image            = Official portrait of Lord Trimble (3x4 cropped).jpg
| imagesize        =
| alt              =
| caption          = Official portrait, 2018 
<!-- Do NOT remove the spaces between offices in the infobox as they make the code more readable and removing them has no visual impact for the reader -->

| office1          = [[First Minister of Northern Ireland]]
| monarch1          = [[Queen Elizabeth II]]|
| term_start1      = 1 July 1998
| term_end1        = 14 October 2002{{ref label|ch|a|}}
| alongside1       = {{enum|[[Seamus Mallon]]|[[Mark Durkan]]}}
| predecessor1     = ''[[Good Friday Agreement|Office established]]''
| successor1       = [[John Reid, Baron Reid of Cardowan|John Reid]]{{ref label|ch|b}}{{small|''(as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland)''}}<br />[[Ian Paisley]] (2007)
| office2          = 12th [[Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party]]
| deputy2          = {{ubl|[[John Taylor, Baron Kilclooney|John Taylor]] | [[Reg Empey]]}}
| term_start2      = 8 September 1995
| term_end2        = 24 June 2005
| predecessor2     = [[James Molyneaux]]
| successor2       = [[Reg Empey]]
| office3          = [[Member of the Legislative Assembly (Northern Ireland)|Member of the Legislative Assembly]]<br />for [[Upper Bann (Assembly constituency)|Upper Bann]]
| term_start3      = 25 June 1998
| term_end3        = 7 March 2007
| predecessor3     = ''Constituency established''
| successor3       = [[George Savage (politician)|George Savage]]

| office4          = [[Member of the House of Lords]]
| status4          = [[Lords Temporal|Lord Temporal]]
| term_label4      = [[Life peer]]age
| term_start4      = 2 June 2006
| term_end4        = 25 July 2022

| parliament5      = United Kingdom
| constituency_MP5 = [[Upper Bann (UK Parliament constituency)|Upper Bann]]
| term_start5      = 17 May 1990
| term_end5        = 11 April 2005
| predecessor5     = [[Harold McCusker]]
| successor5       = [[David Simpson (Northern Ireland politician)|David Simpson]]

| office6         = [[Northern Ireland Forum|Northern Ireland Forum Member]] <br/> for [[Upper Bann (Assembly constituency)|Upper Bann]]
| term_start6    = 30 May 1996
| term_end6      = 25 April 1998
| predecessor6   = ''Forum created''
| successor6     = ''Forum dissolved''

| birth_name       = William David Trimble
| birth_date       = {{birth date|1944|10|15|df=yes}}
| birth_place      = [[Belfast]], Northern Ireland 
| death_date       = {{Death date and age|2022|7|25|1944|10|15|df=yes}}
| death_place      = Belfast, Northern Ireland
| party            = {{ubl|[[Ulster Unionist Party|Ulster Unionist]] ({{hlist|class=inline|before 1973|1978–2007|item2_style=white-space:nowrap;}})|[[Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party|Ulster Vanguard]] (1973–1978)|[[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] (from 2007)}}
| alma_mater       = [[Queen's University Belfast]] ([[Bachelor of Laws|LLB]])
| profession       = {{Hlist|Barrister|lecturer}}
| awards = [[Nobel Peace Prize]] (1998)
| spouse           = {{Plainlist|
* {{marriage|Heather McComb|1968|1976|end=div.}}
* {{marriage|[[Daphne Trimble|Daphne Orr]]|1978}}}}
| children         = 4
| website          = {{Official website|https://web.archive.org/web/20160207043926/http://davidtrimble.org/}}
| footnotes        = a. {{note|ch||[[Reg Empey]] served as Acting First Minister from 1 July to 6 November 2001.}} <br /> b. {{note|ch||During the periods of suspension of the [[Northern Ireland Executive]], the [[Secretary of State for Northern Ireland|Secretaries of State for Northern Ireland]] assumed the responsibilities of the First Minister and deputy First Minister. At the time of suspension the Northern Ireland Secretary was John Reid.}}
| module           = {{Listen|embed = yes|filename=David Trimble BBC Radio4 Great Lives 14 August 2007 b007vzrt.flac |title=Trimble's voice |type=speech |description=from the BBC programme ''[[Great Lives]]'', 14 August 2007<ref name="BBC-b007vzrt">{{Cite episode |title=Elvis Presley |series=Great Lives |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007vzrt |station= BBC Radio 4 |date=14 August 2007 |archive-date= 30 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141230234913/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007vzrt |url-status=live |access-date= 18 June 2014}}</ref>}}
}}

'''William David Trimble, Baron Trimble''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|PC}} (15 October 1944 – 25 July 2022) was a Northern Irish politician who was the inaugural [[First Minister of Northern Ireland]] from 1998 to 2002 and leader of the [[Ulster Unionist Party]] (UUP) from 1995 to 2005.<ref name="britannica1">{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/605370/David-Trimble |title=David Trimble (British politician) |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |date=15 October 1944 |access-date=29 June 2010 |archive-date=18 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110318003603/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/605370/David-Trimble |url-status=live }}</ref> He was also [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) for [[Upper Bann (UK Parliament constituency)|Upper Bann]] from [[1990 Upper Bann by-election|1990]] to [[2005 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland|2005]] and [[Member of the Legislative Assembly (Northern Ireland)|Member of the Legislative Assembly]] (MLA) for [[Upper Bann (Assembly constituency)|Upper Bann]] from 1998 to [[2007 Northern Ireland Assembly election|2007]].

Trimble began his career teaching law at [[The Queen's University of Belfast]] in the 1970s, during which time he began to get involved with the paramilitary-linked [[Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party]] (VPUP). He was elected to the [[Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention]] in 1975 and joined the UUP in 1978 after the VPUP disbanded.<ref name="britannica1"/> Remaining at Queen's University, he continued his academic career until being elected as the MP for Upper Bann in 1990. In 1995 he was unexpectedly elected as the leader of the UUP.<ref name="britannica1"/> He was instrumental in the negotiations that led to the [[Good Friday Agreement]] in 1998 and (along with [[John Hume]]) won the [[Nobel Peace Prize]] that year for his efforts. He was later elected to become the first First Minister of Northern Ireland, although his tenure was turbulent and frequently interrupted by disagreements over the timetable for [[Provisional Irish Republican Army]] decommissioning.

Trimble resigned the leadership of the UUP soon after being defeated at the [[2005 United Kingdom general election|2005 general election]]. In June 2006, he accepted a [[life peer]]age in the [[House of Lords]], taking the title of ''Baron Trimble'', ''of [[Lisnagarvey]] in the County of [[County Antrim|Antrim]]''.<ref name=Gazette>{{London Gazette|issue=58004|page=7793|date=7 June 2006}}</ref> He did not stand again for the Assembly, which finally reconvened in 2007, instead leaving the UUP to join the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]].<ref name="conservatives">{{cite press release|title=Statement by the Rt. Hon. The Lord Trimble, Tuesday, 17 April 2007 |work=Official website |publisher=David Trimble|date=17 April 2007 |url=http://www.davidtrimble.org/latestnews_joinstories.htm |access-date=17 April 2007 |quote=Consequently I have decided to join the Conservatives. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070703082821/http://www.davidtrimble.org/latestnews_joinstories.htm |archive-date=3 July 2007 }}</ref>