The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (APNI),or simply Alliance,is a liberal and centrist political party in Northern Ireland. Following the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election,it was the third-largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly,holding seventeen seats,and broke through by achieving third place in first preference votes in the 2019 European Parliament election and polling third-highest regionally at the 2019 UK general election. The party won one of the three Northern Ireland seats in the European Parliament,and one seat,North Down,in the House of Commons,the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
Belfast City Council is the local authority with responsibility for part of Belfast,the largest city of Northern Ireland. The council serves an estimated population of 348,005 (2022),the largest of any district council in Northern Ireland,while being the smallest by area. Belfast City Council is the primary council of the Belfast Metropolitan Area,a grouping of six former district councils with commuter towns and overspill from Belfast,containing a total population of 579,276.
Alex Maskey is an Irish former politician who served as Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly from 2020 to 2024 and was the first member of Sinn Féin to serve as Lord Mayor of Belfast from 2002 to 2003. He was Sinn Féin's longest sitting councillor,representing the Laganbank electoral area of Belfast. He was also an MLA for Belfast West for two periods,and also for Belfast South. He reportedly retired "from frontline politics" in early 2024.
Frank McCoubrey is a Northern Irish unionist politician and Ulster Loyalist,as well as a community activist and researcher. McCoubrey is a Belfast City Councillor for the Court DEA since 1997,sitting as a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) member since 2012. He is a leading member of the Ulster Political Research Group (UPRG). McCoubrey is a native of Highfield,Belfast.
Robert Stoker is a Northern Irish Community Worker and former unionist politician in South Belfast who was Lord Mayor of Belfast from 1999 to 2000,and an Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) Belfast City councillor for the Balmoral DEA from 1995 to 2014.
LGBTQ+ life on the island of Ireland is made up of persons who are lesbian,gay,bisexual,transgender,or otherwise.
Jeffrey Edward Anthony Dudgeon MBE is a Northern Irish politician,historian and gay political activist. A member of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP),Dudgeon was a Belfast City Councillor for the Balmoral DEA from 2014 to 2019.
Gavin James Robinson is a Northern Irish unionist politician and barrister who has served as Leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) since March 2024. He served as Deputy DUP Leader from June 2023 to May 2024. He has been 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.
Máirtín ÓMuilleoir is an Irish Sinn Féin politician,author,publisher,and businessman,who served as the 70th Lord Mayor of Belfast from 2013 to 2014.
John Kenneth Blair is an Alliance Party politician serving as the Deputy Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly since 2024. Blair has been a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for South Antrim since 2018. He is the first openly gay member of the Assembly.
Andrew Muir is a Northern Irish politician who has served as Minister of Agriculture,Environment and Rural Affairs since February 2024. He is an Alliance Party Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for North Down. He was appointed as an MLA following incumbent Alliance MLA Stephen Farry's election as MP for North Down in the 2019 UK general election,and elected in the constituency in the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election.
Deirdre Hargey is an Irish Sinn Féin politician who has been a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Belfast South since 2020. She previously served as Lord Mayor of Belfast from 2018 to 2019,and as a Belfast City Councillor for the Botanic DEA from 2011 to 2020. Hargey was Minister for Communities from 2020 to 2022 and briefly served as interim Minister for the Economy in May 2024.
Kate Siobhan Nicholl is a Northern Irish politician for the Alliance Party,serving as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Belfast South since 2022.
Malachai O'Hara is a Northern Irish politician,activist and community worker who has been the leader of the Green Party Northern Ireland since August 2022,having previously served as deputy leader from 2019 to 2022. O'Hara was a Belfast City Councillor for the Castle electoral area from 2019,until 2023. In 2024,he was elected unopposed to Seanad Éireann,in a by-election to the Administrative Panel.
Nuala McAllister is a Northern Irish politician who is an Alliance Party Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA). She was elected as an MLA in the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election for Belfast North.
Michael Andrew Long is a politician from Northern Ireland who served as the 80th Lord Mayor of Belfast from 9 May 2022 to 1 June 2022,finishing the remaining three weeks of Kate Nicholl's term after she was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly in May 2022. Long has served as leader of the Alliance Party on Belfast City Council,and a Belfast City Councillor for the Lisnasharragh DEA since 2014.
Andrew McCormick is a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician,serving as deputy Lord Mayor of Belfast since June 2024 and a Belfast City Councillor for the Ormiston DEA since 2023.
Ruth Patterson is a former Northern Irish unionist politician who was deputy Lord Mayor of Belfast between 2006 and 2007,then 2011 to 2012. Additionally,she served as High Sheriff of Belfast from 2004 to 2005. Patterson was a Belfast City councillor from 2001 to 2019,initially for the Balmoral DEA,later Botanic.
John Colin Hussey is a Northern Irish barrister and former Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician who was High Sheriff of Belfast from 2022 to 2023,as well as a Belfast City councillor from 2011 to 2023,latterly for the Ormiston DEA.
