He was elected to Armagh City and District Council in 1977 for the Ulster Unionist Party.
[2] The SDLP called on voters to boycott the election, which Speers contested as the UUP candidate.
He easily beat the only other candidate, Tom French of the Workers' Party, and served on the Assembly until it was abolished in 1986.
[3] Speers contested Newry and Armagh at the 1992 United Kingdom general election, and took second place, with 36% of the vote.
[4] In 1996, he was elected to the Northern Ireland Forum, as a UUP representative for Newry and Armagh.