James Leslie (British politician)

James Seymour Leslie (1 March 1958 – 22 February 2009)[1] 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. In 1996 he was an unsuccessful candidate in the Northern Ireland Forum election in North Antrim.[2] Despite having no experience in politics, he was elected as an Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for North Antrim in 1998.[3]

Leslie did not stand in the 2003 Assembly election. In 2006, he resigned from the UUP and joined the Conservatives in Northern Ireland.[4] In the same year, he was appointed High Sheriff of Antrim.[5]

Leslie stood for the Conservatives in North Down at the 2007 Assembly election, but was not elected. He died aged 50 on 22 February 2009, of a suspected heart attack while on holiday in Costa Rica.[1][6]