Andrew Muir (born 9 July 1976) is a

Northern Irish Northern Irish people is a demonym for all people born in Northern Ireland or people who are entitled to reside in Northern Ireland without any restriction on their period of residence. Most Northern Irish people either identify as Northern ...

politician who is an Alliance Party

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. ...

(MLA) for North Down. He was appointed as an MLA following incumbent Alliance MLA Stephen Farry's election as MP for North Down in the

2019 UK general election The 2019 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 12 December 2019. It resulted in the Conservative Party receiving a landslide majority of 80 seats. The Conservatives made a net gain of 48 seats and won 43.6% of the popular vote ...

, and elected in the constituency in the

2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election The 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election was held on 5 May 2022. It elected 90 members to the Northern Ireland Assembly. It was the seventh assembly election since the establishment of the assembly in 1998. The election was held three month ...

Political career

Council (2010-2019)

Muir was co-opted onto

North Down Borough Council North Down Borough Council was a Local Council in County Down in Northern Ireland. It merged with Ards Borough Council in May 2015 under local government reorganisation in Northern Ireland to become North Down and Ards District Council. Its m ...

in 2010, and was elected for the Hollywood DEA at the 2011 local elections. He was elected on the first count with 22.73% of FPVs, but he did not top the poll as newly elected MLA

Gordon Dunne Gordon Dunne (4 April 1959 – 20 June 2021) was a Unionist politician from Northern Ireland representing the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). Dunne was a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) from 2011 to 2021, representing North ...

out-polled him by 90 votes. Muir became the first openly gay

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

when he became North Down Borough Council mayor from 2013 to 2014. Muir was re-elected at the 2014 local election for the Holywood and Clandeboye DEA, following the local government reform that merged Ards and North Down borough councils. He ran as one of two Alliance candidates, with now- MLA for Belfast South Kate Nicholl being his running mate. He was elected behind Stephen Dunne, the son of Gordon Dunne, and now MLA for North Down. Muir ran alongside Stephen Farry as an Alliance candidate at the 2016 Assembly election in North Down, and was runner up behind his party colleague. Muir was subsequently re-elected at the 2019 local elections, topping the poll with 1,397 votes (20.43%). His running mate Gillian Greer was also elected on the first count and gained a seat at the expense of the DUP.

Member of the Legislative Assembly (2019-)

Muir was selected by Alliance to replace Stephen Farry, the newly elected MP for North Down, and was co-opted into the Assembly. In doing so, he became the second openly gay member of the Assembly, after Alliance MLA John Blair ( South Antrim). He is currently Party Chief Whip and Alliance's Infrastructure and Finance Spokesperson. He was selected to run as one of Alliance's two candidates in North Down for the

and both he and his running mate,

Connie Egan Connie Egan is a Northern Irish politician who is an Alliance Party Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA). She was elected as an MLA in the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election for North Down. Political career Early career (2019-2022 ...

, were elected. He polled the second most FPVs (6,838) and 16.38% of the vote as Alliance increased their vote by 10.3% in the constituency.

Personal life

Muir is openly gay.

References

External links

Official website/

Twitter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Muir, Andrew Living people Alliance Party of Northern Ireland MLAs LGBT politicians from Northern Ireland People from County Down 1976 births Gay politicians 21st-century LGBT people Northern Ireland MLAs 2017–2022 Northern Ireland MLAs 2022–2027 21st-century politicians from Northern Ireland