Ian James Parsley (born 3 May 1977) is a businessman and former, part-time politician from
Northern Ireland. He was the
Alliance Party candidate at the
2009 European elections, and served as Deputy Mayor of
North Down.
He attracted considerable criticism and caused much controversy by endorsing the
Conservatives and Unionistslink-up in 2009, but subsequently rejoined the
Alliance Party in 2011. He is an outspoken opponent of
Brexit.
Background
Although of Northern Irish heritage on his mother's side, Parsley was born in Yorkshire and educated at
Merchant Taylors' School Merchant Taylors' School may refer to:
*Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood (founded 1561), is a British independent school originally located in the City of London and now located in Northwood in Middlesex .
* Merchant Taylors' Boys' School, Crosb ...
and
Newcastle University
Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a UK public university, public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is ...
, graduating in Modern Languages.
Parsley currently works in public relations, as a media commentator on languages, welfare reform and football, and is a Director of
Northern Ireland Screen. He was also Chair of the
European Movement in Northern Ireland.
Other activities
Parsley was a writer in and about
Ulster Scots Ulster Scots, may refer to:
* Ulster Scots people
* Ulster Scots dialect
Ulster Scots or Ulster-Scots (', ga, Albainis Uladh), also known as Ulster Scotch and Ullans, is the dialect of Scots language, Scots spoken in parts of Ulster in North ...
and, despite having run against her at the
2010 UK general election
The 2010 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 6 May 2010, with 45,597,461 registered voters entitled to vote to elect members to the House of Commons. The election took place in 650 constituencies across the United Kingdom unde ...
, he has campaigned alongside
Sylvia Hermon
Sylvia Eileen, Lady Hermon (née Paisley; born 11 August 1955) is a retired Unionist politician from Northern Ireland. She served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of North Down from 2001 to 2019.
She was first elected fo ...
on support for people with
dementia and their carers.
Personal life
Parsley has been married to Alliance MLA for
Belfast South Paula Bradshaw
Paula Jane Bradshaw (born 1 November 1972) is an Alliance Party of Northern Ireland politician. She has been a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for South Belfast since the 2016 election.
Early life and career
Bradshaw atte ...
since 2011. He is an avid Arsenal FC fan and an expert on Western European languages, a subject about which he often writes.
References
Further reading
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parsley, Ian
1977 births
Living people
Alliance Party of Northern Ireland politicians
Alumni of Newcastle University
Conservative Party (UK) politicians
People educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood
Businesspeople from Northern Ireland
Male non-fiction writers from Northern Ireland
21st-century writers from Northern Ireland