Edward Kevin McGrady, known as Eddie McGrady (born 3 June 1935, Downpatrick, County Down, Northern Ireland) is an Irish nationalist politician and a former member of the United Kingdom Parliament.
One of eleven children, McGrady was educated at St. Patrick's Grammar School, Downpatrick and at Belfast Technical College, where he trained as a chartered accountant, subsequently entering his family's accountancy firm. He entered politics in 1961 as an independent nationalist councillor on Downpatrick Urban Council, serving as chairman from 1964 until the council was replaced by Down District Council in 1973. In the late 1960s he joined the National Democrats and stood for the party in the 1969 election to the Parliament of Northern Ireland in East Down, losing to the sitting MP and future Prime Minister of Northern Ireland Brian Faulkner. In 1970, he became a founder member of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) later serving as its first chairman (from 1971-1973.) He sat on Down district council from 1973 to 1989, serving as chairman from 1974–1975 and was also elected to all three regional assemblies in 1973, 1975 and 1982 representing South Down. In the 1973 power sharing executive he was appointed as Head of the Department of Executive Planning and Co-ordination serving from January to May 1974.
In Westminster elections he contested South Down unsuccessfully in 1979, 1983 and at the by-election of January 1986, losing on each occasion to Enoch Powell, the sitting MP. He succeeded at the fourth attempt in the general election of 1987 and has held the seat since then. His tenure was briefly threatened in the mid 1990s when the Boundary Commission suggested merging much of his constituency with the neighbouring Newry and Armagh constituency to form a new 'Newry and Mourne' constituency. This was overturned during a local review which preserved his seat and actually removed more Unionist sections such as Dromore. McGrady's support has held solid over the years despite talk of a slippage and this was reinforced in the last Westminster election with his re-election to the House of Commons.
McGrady formerly sat on the Northern Ireland Policing Board and was a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly between 1998 and 2003.
On 25 February 2010, McGrady announced that he will stand down at the 2010 General Election.
McGrady still continues to be chairperson of the Lecale Branch of the SDLP.
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