Northern Ireland

Gregory Campbell has never strayed far from controversy

East Derry MP, Gregory Campbell provoked the anger of nationalists in 2019 when he posed under a banner supporting Soldier F.
East Derry MP, Gregory Campbell provoked the anger of nationalists in 2019 when he posed under a banner supporting Soldier F. East Derry MP, Gregory Campbell provoked the anger of nationalists in 2019 when he posed under a banner supporting Soldier F.

Gregory Campbell’s refusal to apologise over online comments about the number of black people involved in a Songs of Praise competition is just the latest in a long line of controversies.

In the last 40 years, the East Derry MP has managed to provoke anger and scorn in equal measure across the entire spectrum of nationalism from extreme to moderate.

Born in Derry’s Waterside, Mr Campbell was educated at the local Ebrington primary school and at Derry’s Technical College. He later undertook a certificate in political studies at Magee College. A firebrand politician, he celebrates his 67th birthday next Monday, February 15.

Married to Frances, he has one son and three daughters and lists his interests as football, music and reading. A keen Rangers and Northern Ireland fan, he also follows Derry’s Institute FC in the Irish League.

In a speech at her father’s 60th birthday in 2014, Mr Campbell’s daughter, Suzanne told guests her father was often seen “singing and chanting along at the stands of Windsor Park and Ibrox”.

The East Derry MP joined the emerging DUP in the 1970s and was first elected to Derry’s city council in 1981. As leader of the DUP group on a nationalist council, he was never far from protest, once chaining himself to his council desk in the city’s Guildhall, having to be cut free by police.

He led DUP and UUP members out of the council in 1984 in protest at the decision to change the authority’s name from Londonderry to Derry city council, sparking a long-running boycott. After 30 years as a councillor, Mr Campbell stepped down.

He stood for the DUP against the late John Hume in general elections on three occasions before moving to East Derry. On his second attempt in that constituency he unseated veteran UUP MP, William Ross in 2001 and has remained a Member of Parliament since. Elected to the Northern Ireland assembly, he served as MP and MLA until 2016 when he stepped down from Stormont to focus solely on Westminster. His time in Stormont included a brief period as Culture Minister.

Mr Campbell has been an outspoken critic of nationalism and republicanism. His opposition has focused on everything from the name of Derry to children’s cartoons. In 2008, he criticised the popular Simpsons show following a reference to the IRA. He has also criticised singer Dido over a song which referenced the protest ballad 'The Men Behind the Wire.'

He has strong views on social issues, in particular homosexuality. In a 1985 interview with Magill Magazine, he described homosexuality as “an evil, wicked, abhorrent practice”.

He said: “In the bible, there is only one sin which called down literal fire and brimstone from God and that wasn’t murder, it wasn’t theft, it was homosexuality”.

Mr Campbell's mockery of the Irish language by parodying it with the words “curry my yoghurt, can coca coalyer” provoked fury across nationalism and republicanism. Likewise, in 2019, he was widely criticised when he was pictured with others posing under a banner supporting former Parachute Regiment member, Soldier F who is facing possible murder charges in connection with Bloody Sunday.

But he has also been sinned against and has suffering frequent death threats. In one of the most serious, a bomb was placed under his car outside his home in Derry’s Waterside.

Recalling the attack in an interview in 2014, he said: “Those who planted it not only wanted to end my life but also cared little for my wife and children who were travelling with me.”

In 2010, a picture of the DUP politician with a superimposed bullet hole in the head was placed on Facebook after one of his many criticisms of the money spent on the Saville Bloody Sunday inquiry. The following year a man was given a suspended prison sentence and fined after posting a “menacing” message about Mr Campbell on Facebook.

In another attack four years later, police informed him of a serious threat against his life after he told his party conference the DUP would treat Sinn Féin’s wish list as no more than “toilet paper”. Sinn Féin condemned the threat and offered sympathies to Mr Campbell and his family.

Over the last 40 years, the East Derry MP has seldom if ever displayed anything but a confrontational approach to politics. His comments in recent days show that approach is unlikely to change any time soon.