Jim Rodgers (politician)

Jim Rodgers OBE (b.1943) is a Northern Irish unionist politician who was Lord Mayor of Belfast from 2001 to 2002, and again from 2007 to 2008. Rodgers also served as the High Sheriff of Belfast from 2016 to 2017. A member of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), he has been a Belfast City Councillor for the Ormiston (formerly Victoria) DEA since 1993. Additionally, Rodgers is an appointed Alderman on the council.

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In 1973, he stood unsuccessfully as a candidate for the Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party in the election to the Northern Ireland Assembly.

In 1996, he was elected to the Northern Ireland Peace Forum for East Belfast. Rodgers stood in the 1998, 2003 and 2007 Northern Ireland Assembly elections for East Belfast but was unsuccessful on each occasion. He is a councillor for Ormiston DEA on Belfast City Council and was elected as Lord Mayor of Belfast in 2001. Rodgers was again elected Lord Mayor in 2007, he had the backing of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) group on the council and the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP).

Rodgers served on a variety of public bodies including Belfast Education and Library Board, Belfast District Policing Partnership, Sport Northern Ireland and the Northern Ireland Events Company. He is also a former director of Glentoran FC but resigned from his position a few days before a winding up order from HMRC was due to be heard by the High Court in January 2011.

At a DPP meeting in Short Strand Community centre on 15 June 2009, he claimed he had been attacked with eggs and stones by members of the IRSP.

In 2010, a council worker received a £24,000 payment for a back injury after Rogers tried to leapfrog over her during a council garden party.

In the run up to the 2019 Local Government Election, a leaflet for Mr Rodgers and fellow UUP councillor Peter Johnston alleged that the Alliance Party was "closely aligned" with the "IRA's political wing". The leaflet was widely condemned, with the UUP stating it was not sanctioned by the party. Rodgers had the party whip removed and was referred to the party's disciplinary committee.