Alastair Patterson (born 14 December 1972) is a Northern Irish unionist politician who was an

Ulster Unionist Party The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it led unionist opposition to the Irish Home Rule movem ...

(UUP)

Member of the Legislative Assembly A member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to a legislative assembly. Most often, the term refers to a subnational assembly such as that of a state, province, or territory of a country. S ...

(MLA) for Fermanagh and South Tyrone between January and May 2016. Patterson defected to the

Democratic Unionist Party The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a unionist, loyalist, 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. Currently led by J ...

(DUP) in June 2016, a month after losing his seat in that year's Assembly election.

Political career

As a member of the

, Patterson was co-opted to the

Northern Ireland Assembly sco-ulster, Norlin Airlan Assemblie , legislature = 7th Northern Ireland Assembly, Seventh Assembly , coa_pic = File:NI_Assembly.svg , coa_res = 250px , house_type = Unicameralism, Unicameral , hou ...

in January 2016, having replaced Neil Somerville, following the latter's resignation due to ill health. He served on the Environment Committee, and was Ulster Unionist Party Spokesperson on the Environment. Patterson contested the

2016 Assembly election Sixteen or 16 may refer to: *16 (number), the natural number following 15 and preceding 17 *one of the years 16 BC, AD 16, 1916, 2016 Films * ''Pathinaaru'' or ''Sixteen'', a 2010 Tamil film * ''Sixteen'' (1943 film), a 1943 Argentine film dir ...

, alongside his running mate,

Rosemary Barton Rosemary Barton (born May 31, 1976) is a Canadian political journalist, currently serving as the chief political correspondent for CBC. In this role, she anchors her own Sunday morning news show, '' Rosemary Barton Live'', hosted the "At Issu ...

. In the election, he polled 3,010 (6.4%) of first preference votes, and was eliminated on the fifth count, with his transfers electing Barton. Following his defeat, he went on to defect to the

, saying he was "let down and disappointed" by UUP decisions both locally and nationally. In an email to Ulster Unionist members, Patterson revealed that the majority of his friends and families were DUP supporters and that he "at a time of weakness on my part give icinto the advice they have been giving me since the Election"

Personal life

Outside politics, Patterson spent over twenty years in the Construction Industry, most recently serving as a Senior Quantity Surveyor. Patterson is a keen Pipe Bandsman, a former Drum Major with

Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band The Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band is a competitive grade one pipe band from Lisburn, Northern Ireland named in honour of Field Marshal Viscount Montgomery of Alamein. The band has won the World Pipe Band Championships 13 times, making it th ...

, a four times World Champion Drum Major and current Adjudicator. He is a member of the

Orange Order The Loyal Orange Institution, commonly known as the Orange Order, is an international Protestant fraternal order based in Northern Ireland and primarily associated with Ulster Protestants, particularly those of Ulster Scots heritage. It also ...

. Patterson is a supporter of

Liverpool F.C. Liverpool Football Club is a professional football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Founded in 1892, the club joined the Football League the following year and has p ...

and Ulster Rugby.

References

1972 births Living people Northern Ireland MLAs 2011–2016 Ulster Unionist Party MLAs People from Castlederg Politicians from County Tyrone {{Northern-Ireland-MLA-stub