Steve Aiken

Last updated

[a]
Commander
Steve Aiken
OBE MLA
Steve Aiken (2020).png
Deputy Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly
Assumed office
3 February 2024
Assumed office
5 May 2016

Aiken was born in South Antrim, attended Thompson Primary School, Ballyrobert, and then was educated at Belfast High School. He joined the Sea Cadets in 1982 based at HMS Caroline (1914), which remains in its original dock as a Museum Ship. During his naval career he undertook further study and holds a PhD and MPhil in International Relations from the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Cambridge, with his thesis research on India and its growing military power. He also has a MA in Defence Studies from the Department of Defence Studies at King's College London. [2]

Military career

Aiken served for 32 years in the Royal Navy as a submariner, ultimately in many senior operational roles, including commanding two nuclear-powered submarines, being Joint Plans Officer for operations in the Middle-East in 2002-04 (for which he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)). [3] At the end of his service in the Royal Navy, he became the founding CEO of the British Irish Chamber of Commerce, a post he held for three years during which time he lived in Dublin with his family. [4] [5]

Political career

When Robin Swann MLA announced his sudden resignation as leader of the Ulster Unionist Party in 2019, Aiken stood for the leadership. [6] [7] He was elected unopposed as leader in November 2019 and led the party through difficult periods addressing concerns about Brexit, the Protocol and pandemic. [8] He promptly opted for the UUP to take the Ministry of Health Department, when no other party would take it, and appointed Mr Swann MLA as Minister. [9] He announced his resignation as leader eighteen months later [10] because he held a firm position that the Chief Constable needed to resign in 2021. [11]

In October 2021 Aiken was reselected to be a UUP candidate for South Antrim in the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election. [12] He was reelected in the May 2022 poll and, despite the lack of a functioning Northern Ireland Assembly since February 2022, he continues to serve the people of South Antrim and remains the Party Spokesperson on the Northern Ireland Protocol and Finance, in addition to his private consulting business. [13]

In 2024, Aiken received a two-day suspension from the Assembly after being accused of breaching the "confidentiality" of the assembly complaints process. The standards committee recommended a sanction over Aiken disclosing a complaint he had made against another MLA. On 7 May 2024, MLAs backed a motion to suspend him from attending business on the 13th and 14th of May. Alliance MLA Paula Bradshaw called on Aiken to consider his position as deputy speaker. [14]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ulster Unionist Party</span> Political party in Northern Ireland

The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded as the Ulster Unionist Council in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it led unionist opposition to the Irish Home Rule movement. Following the partition of Ireland, it was the governing party of Northern Ireland between 1921 and 1972. It was supported by most unionist voters throughout the conflict known as the Troubles, during which time it was often referred to as the Official Unionist Party (OUP).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeffrey Donaldson</span> British politician (born 1962)

Sir Jeffrey Mark Donaldson is a British politician who served as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) from 2021 to 2024 and leader of the DUP in the UK House of Commons from 2019 to 2024. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Lagan Valley since 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Allister</span> Politician

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reg Empey</span> Northern Ireland politician (born 1947)

Reginald Norman Morgan Empey, Baron Empey,, best known as Reg Empey, is a Northern Irish politician who served as the acting First Minister of Northern Ireland in 2001. He was the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) from 2005 to 2010 and served as chairman of the party from 2012 to 2019. Empey was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for East Belfast from 1998 to 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Nesbitt</span> Northern Irish broadcaster and politician

Michael Nesbitt, MLA is a British politician and former broadcaster who was the Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) from 2012 to 2017 and has been a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Strangford since 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Girvan</span> Northern Irish politician

William Paul Girvan is a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for South Antrim since 2017. Girvan is the DUP's Spokesperson for Transport. He was previously a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for South Antrim from 2003 to 2007, and then from 2010 to 2017.

Duncan Shipley Dalton is an English barrister, former Conservative Party activist and former unionist politician in Northern Ireland, who was an Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for South Antrim from 1998 to 2003.

Daniel de Burgh Kinahan is a British army officer and former Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) politician, serving as Veterans Commissioner for Northern Ireland since 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2011 Northern Ireland Assembly election</span>

The 2011 Northern Ireland Assembly election took place on Thursday, 5 May, following the dissolution of the Northern Ireland Assembly at midnight on 24 March 2011. It was the fourth election to take place since the devolved assembly was established in 1998.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robin Swann</span> Northern Irish politician (born 1971)

Robin Swann is a Northern Irish unionist politician currently serving as Minister of Health since 2024. He previously held this office from 2020 to 2022. Swann has been a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for North Antrim since 2011. He also served as leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) from 2017 to 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2010 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland</span>

The 2010 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland occurred on 6 May 2010 and all 18 seats in Northern Ireland were contested. 1,169,184 people were eligible to vote, up 29,191 from the 2005 general election. 57.99% of eligible voters turned out, down 5.5 percentage points from the last general election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2005 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland</span>

The 2005 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland was held on 5 May 2005 and all 18 seats in Northern Ireland were contested. 1,139,993 people were eligible to vote, down 51,016 from the 2001 general election. 63.49% of eligible voters turned out, down 5.1 percentage points from the last general election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doug Beattie</span> Politician in Northern Ireland

Douglas Ricardo Beattie is a Northern Irish politician and former member of the British Army, who has been leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) since 27 May 2021. He has been a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Upper Bann since 2016. He is characterised as a 'progressive' and 'liberal' unionist.

Robbie Butler is a Northern Irish unionist politician, serving as Deputy Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) since May 2021, and a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Lagan Valley since 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election</span> Election held in Northern Ireland

The 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election was held on 5 May 2022. It elected 90 members to the Northern Ireland Assembly. It was the seventh assembly election since the establishment of the assembly in 1998. The election was held three months after the Northern Ireland Executive collapsed due to the resignation of the First Minister, Paul Givan of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), in protest against the Northern Ireland Protocol.

This is a list of the 90 members of the seventh Northern Ireland Assembly, the unicameral devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. The election took place on 5 May 2022, with counting continuing the following 2 days; voter turnout was estimated at 64.4%.

An election for the leadership of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) was held on 9 November 2019 at the party's Annual General Meeting. The election followed the resignation of incumbent leader Robin Swann on 30 September 2019 after the party lost 13 councillors in the local government elections in May and failed to retain its representation in the European Parliament. The result was that South Antrim MLA Steve Aiken was elected unopposed.

An election for the leadership of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) was held on 27 May 2021 at a meeting of the Ulster Unionist Party council. The election was triggered following the resignation of incumbent leader Steve Aiken, who was elected in 2019. Doug Beattie, a retired Army captain who was first elected as an MLA in 2016, was elected leader of the party unopposed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Next United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland</span> Upcoming House of Commons election

The next United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland is scheduled to be held no later than 28 January 2025, with all 18 Northern Irish seats in the House of Commons to be contested. The general election will occur after the recently completed constituency boundaries review.

References

  1. ↑ "Steve Aiken suspended from assembly after vote". BBC News. 7 May 2024. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
  2. ↑ "South Antrim". UUP Live. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
  3. ↑ "Former submariner Steve Aiken surfaces at Stormont". 10 May 2016.
  4. ↑ Aiken, Steve (31 January 2013). "Speech by Steve Aiken British Irish Chamber". issuu. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  5. ↑ Maguire, Patrick (25 November 2019). "Can Steve Aiken save the Ulster Unionist Party". The New Statesman. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  6. ↑ "Steve Aiken confirms he will stand for Ulster Unionist leadership".
  7. ↑ "Steve Aiken: The ex-submariner set to lead the Ulster Unionists".
  8. ↑ "Steve Aiken: From submariner to Stormont party leader".
  9. ↑ "Steve Aiken takes over as new leader of Ulster Unionist Party". BBC News . 9 November 2019. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  10. ↑ McCormack, Jayne (8 May 2021). "Steve Aiken resigns as Ulster Unionist leader". BBC News.
  11. ↑ "Bobby Storey funeral: UUP calls for resignation of Simon Byrne". 1 April 2021.
  12. ↑ "Stormont election: UUP candidates announced for South Antrim". Newtownabbey Times. 20 October 2021.
  13. ↑ "UUP MLA Steve Aiken sets up new consultancy business during Stormont's collapse". 3 July 2023.
  14. ↑ "Steve Aiken suspended from assembly after vote". BBC News. 7 May 2024. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
Northern Ireland Assembly
Preceded by Member of the Legislative Assembly
for South Antrim
2016–present		Incumbent


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.