Career
Girvan was first elected to Newtownabbey Borough Council in 1997,representing the Ballyclare District,and was re-elected in 2001,2005 and 2011. From 2002 to 2004,he served as Mayor of Newtownabbey,and has also served as Chair of the council's Development Committee.
In 2003,he was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly,representing South Antrim. [5] He was deselected by the DUP in South Antrim in 2007, [6] but returned to the Assembly in 2010 when he was selected to replace William McCrea following his resignation. [7] In the 2017 general election,he was elected as the Member of Parliament for South Antrim, [8] having defeated the incumbent Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) Member,Danny Kinahan. [9]
In March 2019,Girvan was one of 21 MPs who voted against LGBT inclusive sex and relationship education in English schools. [10] [11]
The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a unionist, loyalist, British nationalist and national conservative political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1971 during the Troubles by Ian Paisley, who led the party for the next 37 years. Currently led by Jeffrey Donaldson, it is the second largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly, and is the fifth-largest party in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The party has been described as centre-right to right-wing and socially conservative, being anti-abortion and opposing same-sex marriage. The DUP sees itself as defending Britishness and Ulster Protestant culture against Irish nationalism and republicanism. It is also Eurosceptic and supported Brexit.
Sir Jeffrey Mark Donaldson is a British politician who has served as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) since June 2021. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Lagan Valley since 1997, and leader of the DUP in the UK House of Commons since 2019. As of 2022, he is Northern Ireland's longest-serving MP.
Nigel Alexander Dodds, Baron Dodds of Duncairn,, is a British unionist politician who has been the Leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in the House of Lords since 2021, and was the deputy leader of the DUP from 2008 to 2021.
Newtownabbey Borough Council was a Local Authority in County Antrim in Northern Ireland, on the north shore of Belfast Lough just immediately north of Belfast. The Council merged with Antrim Borough Council in April 2015 under local government reform in Northern Ireland to form Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council.
Robert Thomas William McCrea, Baron McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown is a retired Free Presbyterian minister from Northern Ireland. A former Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician, he represented South Antrim and Mid Ulster as their Member of Parliament (MP), representing Mid Ulster from 1983 to 1997; then South Antrim between 2000 and 2001, and then again from 2005 to 2015.
James Hugh Allister,, is a British Unionist politician and barrister in Northern Ireland. He founded the Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) political party in 2007, leading the party since its formation. Allister has served as a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for North Antrim since 2011, and is the TUV’s only representative in the Assembly.
East Antrim is a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons. The current MP is Sammy Wilson of the DUP.
South Antrim is a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons. The current MP is Paul Girvan of the Democratic Unionist Party.
Belfast North is a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons. The current MP is John Finucane of Sinn Féin.
Independent Unionist has been a label sometimes used by candidates in elections in the United Kingdom, indicating a support for British unionism.
The 2007 Northern Ireland Assembly election was held on Wednesday, 7 March 2007. It was the third election to take place since the devolved assembly was established in 1998. The election saw endorsement of the St Andrews Agreement and the two largest parties, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Sinn Féin, along with the Alliance Party, increase their support, with falls in support for the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) and the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP).
Richard James Shannon is a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician in Northern Ireland. He has sat in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom since 2010 as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Strangford and is the DUP's Health Spokesperson. He had previously sat in the Northern Ireland Assembly from 1998 to 2010 as the Member of the Legislative Assembly of Northern Ireland (MLA) for Strangford. He is an advocate for Leave Means Leave, a pro-Brexit campaign.
Fred Cobain, MBE is a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician from Northern Ireland, serving as a Belfast City Councillor for the Castle DEA since 2019. He was previously an Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Belfast North from 1998 until 2011.
Trevor Clarke MLA is a Unionist politician from Northern Ireland representing the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). Clarke is the DUP's Spokesperson for Policing.
The Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. In common with all other Northern Irish unionist parties, the TUV's political programme has as its sine qua non the preservation of Northern Ireland's place within the United Kingdom. A founding precept of the party is that "nothing which is morally wrong can be politically right".
Daniel de Burgh Kinahan is an Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for South Antrim from 2015 to 2017. Prior to his election as a Member of Parliament, Kinahan was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for South Antrim, from 2009 to 2015.
The fourth Northern Ireland Assembly was the unicameral devolved legislature of Northern Ireland following the 2011 assembly election on 5 May 2011. This iteration of the elected Assembly convened for the first time on 12 May 2011 in Parliament Buildings in Stormont, and ran for a full term.
Paula Bradley is a Northern Irish unionist politician who served as Deputy Leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) from May 2021 to June 2023, and an Antrim and Newtownabbey Councillor for the Glengormley Urban DEA since 2022. She was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Belfast North from 2011 to 2022. She also served as Deputy Mayor of Newtownabbey Borough Council from 2009 to 2010.
Gavin James Robinson is a Northern Irish unionist politician and barrister, serving as Deputy Leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) since June 2023, and the Member of Parliament (MP) for Belfast East in the UK House of Commons since the 2015 general election. He was Lord Mayor of Belfast in 2012–2013. Robinson is the DUP Spokesperson for Defence and Home Affairs.
The 2019 United Kingdom general election was held on 12 December 2019 to elect all 650 members of the House of Commons, including 18 seats in Northern Ireland. 1,293,971 people were eligible to vote, up 51,273 from the 2017 general election. 62.09% of eligible voters turned out, down 3.5 percentage points from the last general election. For the first time in history, nationalist parties won more seats than unionist parties.
