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. It is currently led by Gavin Robinson,who initially stepped in as an interim after the resignation of Jeffrey Donaldson. It is the second-largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly,and won five seats in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom at the 2024 election. The party has been mostly described as 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.
James Hugh Allister is a Northern Irish politician and barrister who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for North Antrim since the 2024 general election. He founded the Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) in 2007 and has led the party since its formation. Prior to his election to Westminster,Allister was a member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for North Antrim,having been first elected in the 2011 Assembly election.
North Antrim is a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons. The current MP is Jim Allister (TUV).
Robert Mervyn Storey,usually known as Mervyn Storey,is a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician,serving as a Causeway Coast and Glens Councillor for the Ballymoney DEA since 2022. Storey previously served in the Northern Ireland Executive,where he was Minister for Social Development from 2014 to 2016,and then Minister for Finance between January and March 2016. He was a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for North Antrim from 2003 to 2022.
Declan O'Loan is a former Irish Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) politician who served as a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for North Antrim from 2007 to 2011. O’Loan was also a Member of Ballymena Borough Council from 1993 to 2014.. Following comments about merging with Sinn Fein,he had the SDLP whip suspended,sitting as an Independent in 2010. He would later serve as a Mid and East Antrim Councillor for the Ballymena DEA from 2014 to 2019
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.
Robert Coulter,was an Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) politician who was a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for North Antrim from 1998 to 2011. He was a prominent proponent of unionism,and was the second oldest MLA after the Rev. Ian Paisley at the time of his retirement in 2011.
DaithíGerard McKay is an Irish newspaper columnist and former Sinn Fein politician. He was the Chair of the Finance Committee in the Northern Ireland Assembly from 2012 to 2016,and a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for North Antrim from 2007 to 2016. He brought forward legislation that led to the introduction of a Carrier Bag Levy in Northern Ireland and the abolishment of rates for Community Amateur Sport Clubs.
Philip McGuigan is an Irish Sinn Féin politician who has been a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for North Antrim since 2016,having served from 2003 to 2007. He was a Ballymoney Borough Councillor for the Bann Valley DEA from 2001 to 2014.
William Paul Girvan is a retired Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for South Antrim from 2017 to 2024. In this role,Girvan was 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.
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".
Cecil Cousley MBE was a Northern Irish unionist politician who served as Mayor of Ballymoney on three separate occasions,and was a Ballymoney Councillor from 1981 to 2014.
Ballymena Borough Council was the local authority of Ballymena in Northern Ireland. It merged with Carrickfergus Borough Council and Larne Borough Council in May 2015 under local government reorganisation in Northern Ireland to become Mid and East Antrim Borough Council.
Pamela (Pam) Cameron is a Unionist politician from Northern Ireland,who has served as a Junior Minister in the Executive of the 7th Northern Ireland Assembly since 2024. She is a member of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).
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.
Gordon Lyons is a Northern Irish unionist politician,serving as Minister for Communities since 2024. He has also served as Director of Elections for the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) since 2021. He was Minister for the Economy in the Northern Ireland Executive from 2021 to 2022,and has been a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for East Antrim since August 2015. He is the DUP's Spokesperson for Finance,Public Service Reform and the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Patricia O'Lynn is a Northern Irish academic,educator,and politician who was an Alliance Party Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from 2022 to 2023. She was elected as an MLA in the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election for North Antrim.
Braid Valley was one of the four district electoral areas in Ballymena,Northern Ireland which existed from 1985 to 1993. The district elected five members to Ballymena Borough Council,and formed part of the North Antrim constituency for the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Colin Crawford is an Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) politician who has been a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for North Antrim since July 2024.
Timothy Gaston is a Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) politician,serving as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for North Antrim since July 2024.
