Roy Beggs

John Robert Beggs, commonly known as Roy Beggs (February 20, 1936) is a Northern Ireland politician who is a teacher by profession and was deputy principal of Larne High School

In 1973 he entered politics as a councillor for Larne Borough Council for the Democratic Unionist Party, but in the early 1980s he moved to the Ulster Unionist Party and has retained his seat to date, serving several terms as Mayor of Larne. He was elected as a MP for East Antrim in the 1983 general election and held the position until the 2005 general election when he was defeated by Sammy Wilson of the DUP. In his last years in parliament he served as deputy leader of the Parliamentary Ulster Unionist Party and also as chief whip.

His son, Roy Beggs Jnr. is a member of the currently-suspended Northern Ireland Assembly.