Born in
Singida,
Tanganyika Territory, and educated at
Eton College, Leslie read law and land economy at
Queens' College, Cambridge, before becoming a
merchant banker. In 1996, he was an unsuccessful candidate in the
Northern Ireland Forum election in
North Antrim. Despite having no experience in politics, Leslie contested
North Antrim at the
1997 General election, coming second to the incumbent MP,
Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader,
Ian Paisley. He later was elected to the
Northern Ireland Assembly for
North Antrim in the
1998 election. Leslie did not stand in the
2003 Assembly election. In 2006, he resigned from the UUP and joined the
Northern Ireland Conservatives. In the same year, he was appointed
High Sheriff of Antrim. Leslie subsequently stood for the Conservatives in
North Down at the
2007 Assembly election, but was not elected. He died aged 50 on 22 February 2009, of a suspected heart attack while on holiday in
Costa Rica. ==References==