Gavin James Robinson (born 22 November 1984) is a

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) politician and

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and givin ...

. He has been the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) for Belfast East in the

UK House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 mem ...

since the 2015 general election. He was

Lord Mayor of Belfast The Lord Mayor of Belfast is the leader and chairperson of Belfast City Council, elected annually from and by the City's 60 councillors. The Lord Mayor also serves as the representative of the city of Belfast, welcoming guests from across the U ...

in 2012–2013.

Career

Robinson is a lifelong East Belfast resident. He attended

Grosvenor Grammar School Grosvenor Grammar School (formerly Grosvenor High School) is an 11–18 co-educational controlled grammar school and sixth form in Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. History Grosvenor Grammar School was founded in 1945 as Grosvenor Hig ...

in East Belfast, and then University of Ulster where obtained a degree in law and government, before attending Queen's University Belfast, where he attained a Masters in Irish Politics before commencing practice as a barrister. Raised a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their n ...

, he currently attends the

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the sec ...

. He is married. Gavin Robinson is unrelated to former DUP leader and Belfast East MP Peter Robinson. Robinson was co-opted to Belfast City Council in March 2010 to replace Sammy Wilson in representing the Pottinger electoral area of South and East Belfast. He was returned to the council as an

alderman An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members ...

in the 2011 local elections and elected Lord Mayor by the council for the year beginning 1 June 2012. He was a member of the East Belfast District Policing and Community Safety Partnership subgroup and represented the council on the boards of the Ulster Orchestra and the 2013 World Police and Fire Games held in Belfast. He won the constituency of Belfast East for the

, defeating the incumbent

Naomi Long Naomi Rachel Long MLA (née Johnston; born 13 December 1971) is a Northern Irish politician who served as Minister of Justice in the Northern Ireland Executive from January 2020 to October 2022. She has served as leader of the Alliance Party ...

of the Alliance Party, to become a Member of Parliament in the 2015 UK General Election. In March 2019, Robinson was one of 21 MPs who voted against LGBT-inclusive sex and relationship education in English schools.

References

External links

*
Gavin Robinson
at Belfast City Council * {{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Gavin 1984 births Living people Converts to Anglicanism from Presbyterianism Democratic Unionist Party politicians Democratic Unionist Party MPs Former Presbyterians Anglicans from Northern Ireland Lord Mayors of Belfast Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Belfast constituencies (since 1922) UK MPs 2015–2017 UK MPs 2017–2019 UK MPs 2019–present Alumni of Queen's University Belfast