Gary Middleton

Gary Middleton MLA (born 20 June 1990) is a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician in Northern Ireland. He has been a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Foyle since April 2015, when he was co-opted to replace Maurice Devenney.[1]

Gary Middleton MLA
Junior Minister at the Executive Office
Incumbent
Assumed office 2 February 2021 (Acting) Serving with Declan Kearney
Preceded by	Gordon Lyons
Member of the Legislative Assembly for Foyle
Incumbent
Assumed office 13 April 2015
Preceded by	Maurice Devenney
Majority	Co-opted
Deputy Mayor of Derry City Council
In office June 2013 – March 2015
Personal details
Born	20 June 1990 Newbuildings, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland
Nationality	British
Political party	Democratic Unionist Party
Alma mater	University of Ulster
Occupation	Politician

He is currently the acting Junior Minister appointed by the First Minister of Northern Ireland in the Executive Office[2]

Early life

Born in Newbuildings, County Londonderry, Middleton studied Computer Science at the University of Ulster, and also obtained a diploma in Civic Leadership and Community Planning from the same institution. Prior to becoming an MLA, he was a youth worker and also worked as an assistant to Foyle MLA William Hay and later Maurice Devenney, who was himself co-opted to replace William Hay in October 2014 upon the latter's retirement after being elevated to the House of Lords.[3]

Electoral history

Middleton was first elected to Derry City Council in 2011 at the age of 20, replacing William Hay by co-option. He also served as Deputy Mayor from June 2013 – March 2015.[4]

In 2014 he was elected to the new Derry and Strabane 'super council' and was appointed group leader of the DUP councillors. In April 2015, he was co-opted to replace fellow DUP member Maurice Devenney in the Northern Ireland Assembly, becoming the assembly's youngest member at 24.[5]

Shortly after joining the assembly, it was announced that Middleton would be the DUP's candidate for the Foyle constituency in the United Kingdom general election, eventually finishing a distant third with 12.4% of the vote.[5]

General Election 2015: Foyle

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SDLP	Mark Durkan	17,725	47.9	+3.2
	Sinn Féin	Gearóid Ó hEára	11,679	31.6	−0.4
	DUP	Gary Middleton	4,573	12.4	+0.5
	UUP	Julia Kee	1,226	3.3	+0.1
	Alliance	David Hawthorne	835	2.3	+1.7
	UKIP	Kyle Thompson	832	2.2	N/A
	NI Conservatives	Hamish Badenoch	132	0.4	N/A
Majority			6,046	16.3
Turnout			37,002	52.8	−4.7
	SDLP hold		Swing

References

1. "DUP's Gary Middleton to become Stormont MLA". Derry Now. 1 April 2015. Archived from the original on 22 August 2016. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
2. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-55896873
3. McAdam, Noel. "Co-opted MLA quits seat after five months". BelfastTelegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
4. "Who We Are - Gary Middleton". Mydup.com. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
5. "Gary Middleton pays tribute to DUP colleagues". Londonderry Sentinel. Retrieved 8 August 2016.

External links

• DUP profile
• NI Assembly profile