Baron John Thomas Alderdice. Born 28 March 1955. Leader of the Alliance party from 1987-1998. He was a delegate for East Belfast at the Northern Ireland Forum for Political Dialogue. As party leader, he was an Alliance delegate to the 1996-1998 multi-party talks, and a member of the negotiating team. He was the Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly, 1998-2004. Alderdice has been a member of the House of Lords since 1996 as a Liberal Democrat.