John Junkin (born 1949) is a former Northern Irish unionist politician.
Background Long active in the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), Junkin was elected to Magherafelt District Council at the 1981 Northern Ireland local elections,"The Local Government Elections 1973–1981: Magherafelt", Northern Ireland Elections and held a seat in Moyola in 1985, 1989 and 1993."Local Government Elections 1985 – 1989: Magherafelt", Northern Ireland Elections"Magherafelt District Council Elections 1993–2011", Northern Ireland Elections By the start of the 1990s, he was a Vice-President of the UUP, serving alongside Ken Maginnis, Martin Smyth and Hazel Bradford.Dod's Parliamentary Companion, Vol.159 (1991), p.679
Junkin was elected to the Northern Ireland Forum in 1996, representing Mid Ulster,1996 "Forum Elections: Candidates in Mid Ulster", Northern Ireland Elections and held his council seat in 1997, but lost out in the 1998 Northern Ireland Assembly election, to fellow party member Billy Armstrong."Mid Ulster ", Northern Ireland Elections
Although Junkin was re-elected to Magherafelt Council in 2001, he then resigned from the UUP and stood as an independent in 2005. He lost his seat, defeated by new UUP candidate Jackie Crawford."SF take control in Magherafelt", Mid Ulster Mail, 20 May 2005 He subsequently left politics, but hit the local news in 2007 after a boat which he had fitted out for the use of an autistic child was destroyed by arson."Vandals destroy boat used by autistic child", Mid Ulster Mail, 3 October 2007
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