Career
Newtownabbey Council
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 also served as Chair of the council's Development Committee.
Member of Parliament
In the 2017 general election,he contested South Antrim,winning the seat with a 3,208 majority,against the incumbent MP,Danny Kinahan of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP). [8] [9]
In March 2019,Girvan was one of 21 MPs who voted against LGBT inclusive sex and relationship education in English schools. [10] [11]
He retained his seat at the 2019 general election,though did see his vote decline by 3%,with a majority of 2,689. [12]
In July 2020,during a trade debate in the House of Commons,Girvan caused controversy when he said that food in shops must be affordable "for the housewife to buy." He immediately apologised for the remark. [13] [14]
At the 2024 general election,Girvan lost his seat to the UUP's Robin Swann,which saw his vote decline by 15.7%. [15] [16] He is now retired. [17]
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).
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.
Sir Alfred Cecil Walker was an Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Belfast from 1983 to 2001.
East Antrim is a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons. It is currently represented by Sammy Wilson of the Democratic Unionist Party.
South Antrim is a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons. The current MP is Robin Swann (UUP)
Belfast North is a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons. The current MP is John Finucane.
Independent Unionist has been a label sometimes used by candidates in elections in the United Kingdom, indicating a support for British unionism.
William Alexander Fraser Agnew, known as Fraser Agnew, is a retired Northern Irish unionist politician who was an Antrim and Newtownabbey Councillor for the Three Mile Water DEA from 2014 to 2023. He was previously an Independent Unionist Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Belfast North from 1998 to 2003.
Daniel de Burgh Kinahan is a British army officer and former Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) politician who was Veterans Commissioner for Northern Ireland between 2020 and 2024.
Robert Samuel Swann is a Northern Irish politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for South Antrim since 2024. He previously served twice as Minister of Health, first from January 2020 to October 2022 and again from February 2024 to May 2024. Swann was a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for North Antrim from 2011 to 2024. He also served as leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) from 2017 to 2019.
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.
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.
The first election to Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council, part of the Northern Ireland local elections on 22 May 2014, returned 40 members to the newly formed council via Single Transferable Vote. The Democratic Unionist Party won a plurality of votes and seats.
The Ulster Unionist Party held the majority of Northern Ireland seats in most elections for the Westminster Parliament between 1922 and 2001. Since then its representation has been low or non-existent, having been eclipsed by the Democratic Unionist Party. It always had an absolute majority in the Stormont Parliament (1921–1972); since that Parliament was replaced by the Northern Ireland Assembly it has had a substantial minority representation there. Its share of the vote in Northern Ireland local government elections has tended to diminish, so that there too it is no longer the largest party. Finally, the party has always held one of the three Northern Ireland seats in the European Parliament. Its share of the Northern Ireland vote in the most recent elections to these bodies has been between 10.5% and 16.1%.
The 2015 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland was held on 7 May 2015 and all 18 seats were contested. 1,236,765 people were eligible to vote, up 67,581 from the 2010 general election. 58.45% of eligible voters turned out, an increase of half a percentage point from the last general election. This election saw the return of Ulster Unionists to the House of Commons, after they targeted 4 seats but secured 2.
Elections to Newtownabbey Borough Council were held on 5 May 2011 on the same day as the other Northern Irish local government elections. The election used four district electoral areas to elect a total of 25 councillors.
Ballyclare is one of the seven district electoral areas (DEA) in Antrim and Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland. The district elects five members to Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council and contains the wards of Ballyclare East, Ballyclare West, Ballynure, Ballyrobert and Doagh. Ballyclare forms part of the South Antrim constituencies for the Northern Ireland Assembly and UK Parliament.
Antrim Line was one of the district electoral areas in Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland which existed from 1985 to 2014, one of five DEAs until 1993 and one of four DEAs until 2014. The district elected five members to Newtownabbey Borough Council until 1993 and seven members until 2014, and formed part of the South Antrim constituencies for the Northern Ireland Assembly and UK Parliament and part of the Belfast North constituencies for the Northern Ireland Assembly and UK Parliament.
Newtownabbey Area A was one of the four district electoral areas in Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland which existed from 1973 to 1985. The district elected five members to Newtownabbey Borough Council, and formed part of the South Antrim constituencies for the Northern Ireland Assembly and UK Parliament.
The 2024 general election in Northern Ireland was held on 4 July 2024, with all 18 Northern Irish seats in the House of Commons contested. The general election occurred after the recently completed constituency boundaries review.
