Constituency: Belfast East


On the Ballot

Andy Allen

Andy Allen

Ulster Unionist Party

Andy Allen was co-opted to the Assembly in 2015 to represent East Belfast. The former Royal Irish Regiment soldier is a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, and was left a double amputee and partially blind as a result of a Taliban bomb attack in Helmand in 2008, when he was aged just 19. He set up a charity to help other veterans, AA Veterans Support.

Ross Brown

Ross Brown

Green Party

Ross Brown has been a Green Party Councillor for East Belfast since 2014. He also stood as a candidate for the European election in the same year and for the Westminster election in 2015. He studied economics at Queen's University. Mr Brown campaigns for home insulation schemes and wants to ban the throwing away of fresh food from supermarkets.

Joanne Bunting

Joanne Bunting

Democratic Unionist Party

Joanne Bunting is from East Belfast and was educated at Grosvenor High School. She has worked at the Northern Ireland Assembly for 18 years and was a councillor in Castlereagh for 11 years, serving as mayor in 2004/05. She was selected by the party to replace former leader Peter Robinson on the ballot.

Amy Doherty

Amy Doherty

Social Democratic and Labour Party

Amy Doherty has lived in East Belfast for most of her adult life and works in the technology sector. She campaigns for LGBT and gender equality and believes in creating opportunities through education, skills and jobs, particularly for other young women.

Sammy Douglas

Sammy Douglas

Democratic Unionist Party

Well known in East Belfast for his community and economic development work, Sammy Douglas was elected to the Assembly in 2011 and sat on the Employment and Learning and Enterprise committees, as well as a number of working groups. He is a founder member of the East Belfast Interface Group and previously worked as a social and economic regeneration advisor to the East Belfast Partnership. He is also a former community advisor to the First Minister. He was awarded an MBE in 2002 for services to the community.

Andrew Girvin

Andrew Girvin

Traditional Unionist Voice

Andrew Girvin is a councillor representing Castlereagh East on Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council. Married with four children, he and his wife Nicola are qualified foster carers and he has been involved in youth work for many years. He is self-employed in the food industry and describes himself as a champion for business and development. Mr Girvan is a campaigner against animal cruelty.

Erskine Holmes

Erskine Holmes

Northern Ireland Labour Representation Committee

A former Belfast City Councillor in the 1970s, Erskine Holmes has been contesting elections for four decades. The retired teacher is a former chairman of the NI Labour Party and former director of the NI European Movement. He has a special interest in co-operative housing and set up the NI Co-ownership Society . Mr Holmes was also a founding director of the not for profit Ulster Community Investment Trust. He is currently chairman of Lagan Canal Trust.

Maggie Hutton

Maggie Hutton

Independent

A former community worker from the Newtownards Road, Maggie Hutton has worked for the UUP for 13 years as an assistant to former MLAs Lord Empey and Michael Copeland and the current UUP candidate Andrew Allen. She is campaigning for a better health service, more early years provision in education and greater community involvement in initiatives to tackle crime.

John Kyle

John Kyle

Progressive Unionist Party of NI

Dr John Kyle is a councillor on Belfast City Council and a former interim leader of the PUP. He was co-opted to the council after the sudden death of the party leader, David Ervine. His interests include education, young people, community safety, restorative justice and conflict transformation. A GP at Holywood Arches for 20 years, he also campaigns on health issues and chairs the Health Strategy Group on the East Belfast Partnership.

Jonny Lavery

Jonny Lavery

UK Independence Party

Jonny Lavery is from East Belfast and runs a small business there. After graduating, he stayed at Queen's University to study corporate governance before deciding to pursue a career in marketing and PR. He was a candidate for UKIP in the 2015 Westminster election. He's concerned about unemployment, education standards and a lack of investment in East Belfast.

Naomi Long

Naomi Long

Alliance Party

Alliance deputy leader Naomi Long was first elected MLA for East Belfast in 2003. She left the Assembly to serve as MP for the constituency from 2010-2015, when she lost her seat in the general election. She is also a former Lord Mayor of Belfast. Born and brought up in East Belfast, she studied civil engineering at Queen's. Ms Long is a committee member of Bloomfield Presbyterian Church, a governor of Victoria Primary School and is a guider in the Girl Guide movement.

Chris Lyttle

Chris Lyttle

Alliance Party

Chris Lyttle was co-opted to replace Naomi Long as Alliance MLA for East Belfast in July 2010 and was elected in May 2011. He served on the OFMDFM and Employment and Learning Committees. He was also a member of the Assembly working groups on autism, learning disability and international development. East Belfast-born and raised, Mr Lyttle studied government and politics at Queen's. He also studied conflict management at the University of California and public policy and administration at Harvard. Before becoming an MLA, he worked as a research assistant to Naomi Long. Away from politics, he's a qualified IFA coach.

Chris McGimpsey

Chris McGimpsey

Ulster Unionist Party

Chris McGimpsey represents the Lisnasharragh ward on Belfast City Council where he's a member of the planning and city growth and regeneration committees. He's also a member of the West Belfast District Policing and Community Safety Partnership, Avoniel Community Centre Committee and Dee Street Community Centre Committee. In 1985, he challenged the Anglo-Irish Agreement by bringing a suit against the Irish government in the High Court of the Republic. Mr McGimpsey is also a member of the Apprentice Boys of Derry.

Tim Morrow

Tim Morrow

Alliance Party

Farmer Tim Morrow runs Streamvale Open Farm and is a former county chairman of the Young Farmers' Clubs of Ulster. He was elected to Castlereagh Council in 2011 and currently sits on the environmental services and leisure and community development committees. He is also a member of the Local Strategy Partnership and a former parent governor at Lagan College.

Robin Newton

Robin Newton

Democratic Unionist Party

Robin Newton was first elected to Belfast City Council in 1985 and to the Assembly in 2003. He served as principal deputy speaker and was chair of the Audit Committee, deputy chair of the Employment and Learning Committee and a member of the Education Committee, as well as the Northern Ireland Policing Board. He was previously a Junior Minister in the Office of First Minister and Deputy First Minister. Mr Newton has a background in business, as chief executive of a management company, and received an MBE for services to politics and the community.

Niall O'Donnghaile

Niall O'Donnghaile

Sinn Fein

A councillor for the Pottinger ward, Niall O Donnghaile became Belfast's youngest ever Lord Mayor in 2011 at the age of 25. He was educated through Irish, which he speaks fluently, and is a politics graduate. He was previously employed as a Sinn Fein press officer in the Assembly. Mr O Donnghaile is a community worker in the Short Strand area and a member of the Short Strand Partnership Board.

Courtney Robinson

Courtney Robinson

Cross Community Labour Alternative

The 18 year-old call centre worker has been a socialist activist since she was 14. The former president of the Students' Union at Belfast Met, Courtney Robinson is a campaigner on many social issues, particularly those affecting young people and women. In 2014, she took part in the Abortion Pill Train when abortion medicine was transported from Belfast to Dublin.

Neil Wilson

Neil Wilson

Conservatives

Neil Wilson attended Methodist College and left Northern Ireland in 2002 to go to university. He worked in journalism and served as a local councillor. On his return to Belfast, he started work with an IT company based in the Harbour Estate. He campaigns on young male suicide and runs the Conservative Constituency Advice Service. He also advises young tech entrepreneurs on how to improve their marketing skills.


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