Background
Hinds grew up in Belfast, becoming the owner of an engineering business.
Hinds grew up in Belfast, becoming the owner of an engineering business.
He was also elected as an Ulster Unionist Party Member of Belfast City Council. At the Northern Ireland general election, 1958, he was elected in Belfast Willowfield, and he served until his defeat in 1969 by independent Unionist Tom Caldwell. While he had the support at that election of the Ormeau Unionist Association and the Willowfield Women"s Unionist Association, the Willowfield Unionist Club, another local affiliate of the Ulster Unionist Council, backed Caldwell, and this split became a long-term dispute among party activists in the area.