John Kenneth Blair (born 10 February 1966) is an Alliance Party politician, who has been a

Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs; ga, Comhaltaí den Tionól Reachtach; sco-ulster, Laa-Makkan Forgaitherars) are representatives elected by the voters to the Northern Ireland Assembly. About The Northern Ireland Assembly has 90 ...

(MLA) for South Antrim since 2018. He is the first openly gay member of the Assembly.

Political career

Early career (1997-2005)

John Blair was elected as a councillor to Newtownabbey Borough Council for the Newtonabbey Ratepayers' Association in the 1997 Local Elections, but lost his seat at the 2001 Local Elections after his vote decreased from 6.7% to 3.7%. He attempted to take a different seat the following 2005 elections, but was unsuccessful.

Councillor (2011-2018)

Blair was elected to Newtownabbey Borough Council in the 2011 local elections, representing Antrim Line DEA as an Alliance candidate. He topped the poll and was elected on the first count with 15.96% of the FPVs. He was re-elected to the new Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council in

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, representing the Glengormley Urban DEA.

Member of the Legislative Assembly (2018-)

In 2018, he was

co-opted Co-option (also co-optation, sometimes spelt coöption or coöptation) has two common meanings. It may refer to the process of adding members to an elite group at the discretion of members of the body, usually to manage opposition and so maintai ...

to fill former Alliance Party Leader David Ford's Assembly seat in South Antrim, following David Ford's resignation. Blair has been appointed to the British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly and the Northern Ireland Policing Board. He ran as the Alliance Party candidate for South Antrim in the 2019 General Election, increasing Alliance's share of the vote by 11.7% - from 7.4% to 19.4% - and taking third place. Blair ran at the 2022 Assembly election, taking 7,315 FPVs (16%), and was re-elected on Stage 2.

Personal life

Blair is the first openly gay MLA to sit in the Northern Ireland Assembly. Blair has faced harassment due to his sexuality, including from a DUP councillor who sat on the same policing board alongside Blair.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blair, John 1966 births Living people Alliance Party of Northern Ireland MLAs Northern Ireland MLAs 2017–2022 LGBT politicians from Northern Ireland Gay men from Northern Ireland Members of Newtownabbey Borough Council Northern Ireland MLAs 2022–2027 Gay politicians