Gordon Lyons (born 6 March 1986) is a
Unionist politician from
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...
representing 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). Lyons has been a
Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for
East Antrim since August 2015.
Lyons worked as an assistant to DUP
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 ...
Sammy Wilson for five years. He stood unsuccessfully in
East Antrim at the
2011 Northern Ireland Assembly election, and also for the Coast Road area of
Larne Borough Council
Larne Borough Council was a Local Council in County Antrim in Northern Ireland. It merged with Ballymena Borough Council and Carrickfergus Borough Council in May 2015 under the reorganisation of local government in Northern Ireland to become Mid ...
.
At the
2014 local elections, Lyons was elected for the Coast Road area of the new
Mid and East Antrim District Council, and in August 2015, he was co-opted to take Wilson's place on the Assembly.
Lyons was re-elected at the 2016 Assembly Election and was a member of the Economy Committee and Chairman of the Committee for Procedures.
Following his re-election at the 2017 NI Assembly Election, Lyons was appointed by DUP Leader Arlene Foster as the DUP Assembly Group Chief Whip.
When devolution was restored on 11 January 2020, First Minister Arlene Foster appointed Lyons as Junior Minister in the Executive Office.
He served as the
Minister of Agriculture, Environment, and Rural Affairs after
Edwin Poots
Edwin Poots (born 27 April 1965) is a British politician in Northern Ireland who served as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) from May to June 2021. He was first elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) in 1998, and was ...
stood down temporarily for health reasons.
On 6 July 2021 he became
Minister for the Economy after being appointed by the DUP's newly elected Leader
Jeffrey Donaldson
Sir Jeffrey Mark Donaldson (born 7 December 1962) is a Northern Irish politician who has served as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) since June 2021. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Lagan Valley since 1997, and leade ...
, taking over from
Paul Frew.
[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-57730303, 6 July 2021]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lyons, Gordon
1986 births
Living people
People from Larne
Members of Larne Borough Council
Democratic Unionist Party MLAs
Northern Ireland MLAs 2011–2016
Northern Ireland MLAs 2016–2017
Northern Ireland MLAs 2017–2022
Northern Ireland MLAs 2022–2027