Stewart Dickson
{{short description|Politician from Northern Ireland (born 1950)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2016}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix =
| name = Stewart Dickson
| honorific-suffix = MLA
| image = Picture of Stewart Dickson.jpg
| imagesize =
| alt =
| caption =
| constituency_AM = East Antrim
| assembly = Northern Ireland
| majority =
| term_start = 5 May 2011
| term_end =
| predecessor = Seán Neeson
| successor =
| office1 = Member of
Carrickfergus Borough Council
| constituency1 = Knockagh
| term_start1 = 15 May 1985
| term_end1 = 22 May 2014
| predecessor1 = New district
| successor1 = Council abolished
| constituency2 = Carrickfergus Area A
| term_start2 = 18 May 1977
| term_end2 = 20 May 1981
| predecessor2 = Robert Gordon
| successor2 = William Haggan
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1950|12|8|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland
| death_date =
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| restingplace =
| birthname =
| nationality =
| party = Alliance
| otherparty =
| spouse =
| relations =
| children =
| residence =
| alma_mater =
| occupation =
| profession = Politician
| cabinet =
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| website = {{url|https://www.stewartdicksonmla.net}}
| footnotes =
}}
Stewart Dickson (born 8 December 1950) is an Alliance Party of Northern Ireland politician who has been a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for East Antrim since 2011.
Political career
= Councillor (1977-1981, 1985-2011) =
Dickson entered politics in 1977, when he was elected to Carrickfergus Borough Council representing Area A, the predecessor of the Knockagh Monument electoral area. He lost his seat to the Democratic Unionist Party in the 1981 local elections[http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/73-81lgcarrick.htm Carrickfergus election results 1973–1981] Ark.ac.uk, accessed 8 May 2011 but regained it at the 1985 local elections[http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/85-89lgcarrick.htm Carrickfergus election results 1985–1989] Ark.ac.uk, accessed 8 May 2011 and has been re-elected at each local election since then. He served as Mayor from 1992 to 1993.[http://www.newtownabbeytoday.co.uk/news/local/stewart_dickson_alliance_1_1693534 Newtownabbey Times, 23 February 2007]
= Member of the Legislative Assembly (2011-) =
He ran as the 2nd Alliance Party candidate in East Antrim from the 1996 Northern Ireland Forum to the 2007 Assembly Elections, alongside Seán Neeson but was not elected until the 2011 Assembly Elections; where he inherited Seán Neeson's seat following his retirement.
Dickson was re-elected at the subsequent 2016 and 2017 Assembly Elections,{{Cite web |title=NI Assembly 2017 Results For East Antrim |url=https://elections.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/ni-assembly-2017/east-antrim |access-date=2022-05-11 |website=elections.belfasttelegraph.co.uk}}{{Cite news |title=East Antrim - Northern Ireland Assembly constituency - Election 2017 - BBC News |language=en-GB |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics/northern-ireland-constituencies/N06000005 |access-date=2022-05-11}} and was returned again in the 2022 Assembly Elections alongside his running mate Danny Donnelly - who gained a seat from the UUP's Roy Beggs.{{Cite web |title=East Antrim: Northern Ireland Assembly Elections 2022 Results |url=https://elections.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/ni-assembly-election-2022/east-antrim |access-date=2022-05-11 |website=elections.belfasttelegraph.co.uk}}
Personal life
Stewart is a Trustee of the NI Cancer Charity, OG Cancer NI having been diagnosed with Oesophageal Cancer in July 2019 and underwent major surgery later that year.
Outside political life, he is a retired member of the Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance trade union and the Greenisland Presbyterian Church where he and his wife Sandra are both Elders. He is a former long-serving member and Chair of the Boards of Governors of Carrickfergus Central and Silverstream Primary Schools. Stewart is a Winston Churchill Fellow, having completed his fellowship on: ‘How to create and sustain a small business’. He travelled to the New England States of the United States for his fellowship in 1999. Prior to his election to the NI Assembly, he worked as Arbitration Secretary at the Northern Ireland Labour Relations Agency.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://allianceparty.org/contact/east-antrim-stewart-dickson/ Link to Alliance Party Website Profile]
- [https://www.stewartdicksonmla.net/ Official Website]
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{{s-civ}}
{{succession box | title=Mayor of Carrickfergus | before=W. A. Haggan | after=Seán Neeson | years=1992–1993}}
{{s-par|ni/ass}}
{{s-bef | before = Seán Neeson }}
{{s-ttl
| title = MLA for East Antrim
| years = 2011 – present
}}
{{s-inc}}
{{s-end}}
{{Alliance Party of Northern Ireland}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dickson, Stewart}}
Category:People from County Antrim
Category:Alliance Party of Northern Ireland councillors
Category:Alliance Party of Northern Ireland MLAs
Category:Members of Carrickfergus Borough Council
Category:Mayors of places in Northern Ireland
Category:Northern Ireland MLAs 2011–2016
Category:Northern Ireland MLAs 2016–2017