Thanks to the hard work of our activists, the North Down Conservative Association gave the Conservative Party its first high street presence in Northern Ireland in 2011, when Lord Feldman opened the office just across the road. It later became the main campaign office for the party across the province and had a permanent member of staff.
Subsequently the campaign office moved to Andras House in Belfast.
North Down Conservatives have worked hard to restore the party’s presence on Northern Ireland’s high streets, and thanks to a lot of effort they’re able to open the premises you’re standing in today. It will form a hub for constituency work in North Down and a centre for the local association’s efforts to return an MLA at next year’s Assembly election.
The candidate for that Assembly election will be Frank Shivers, who’s done so much to ensure that the office opened successfully and who owns the Jumping Java café above which it is situated.
Frank is a businessman who contributes a great deal to the local community and he is already working very hard for people across North Down. He’s a member of Ards and North Down Council’s Regeneration Committee, the Business Forum, the Federation of Small Businesses, NIIRTA and the NI Assembly Business Trust.
He previously sat on Friends of Bangor Hospital committee and was a founder member of the Friends of the Irish Guards Charity. He’s also got a young family, so the constituency work generated at this office will no doubt add to an already very busy schedule.
The office is the perfect hub for the Conservative Party, at the centre of the community, and the perfect place to base a campaign for a candidate whose passion is working for the local community.