Christopher David Matthew Stalford (17 January 1983 – 19 February 2022) was a Northern Irish politician who was 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) Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for South Belfast from the 2016 election until his death in 2022.

Biography

Stalford was born in the Annadale Flats in south

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

, on 17 January 1983. He studied nearby at

Wellington College Belfast Wellington College Belfast (better known as Wellington College or WCB) is a co-educational, grammar school located in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The most recent principal is David Castles. The school was formed when, in 1989, the all-boys' Ann ...

and

Queen's University Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

. After graduation he worked in the European office of

Jim Allister James Hugh Allister (born 2 April 1953) is a British Unionist politician and barrister in Northern Ireland. He founded the Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) political party in 2007, leading the party since its formation. Allister has served ...

three days a week, and the office of

Peter Weir Peter Lindsay Weir ( ; born August 21, 1944) is a retired Australian film director. He's known for directing films crossing various genres over forty years with films such as '' Picnic at Hanging Rock'' (1975), ''Gallipoli'' (1981), ''Witness ...

two days a week. He then moved to the DUP press office for six years and then onto the policy unit. At the 2005 local elections, he was elected to

Belfast City Council Belfast City Council ( ga, Comhairle Cathrach Bhéal Feirste) is the local authority with responsibility for part of the city of Belfast, the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland. The Council serves an estimated population of (), the ...

, representing the Laganbank area At the 2014 local elections, Laganbank was abolished and he was re-elected for the Balmoral area. Stalford served as

High Sheriff of Belfast The High Sheriff of Belfast is a title and position which was created in 1900 under the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898, with Sir James Henderson the first holder. Like other high sheriff positions, it is largely a ceremonial post today. The ...

in 2010. Aged only 27, the ''

Belfast Telegraph The ''Belfast Telegraph'' is a daily newspaper published in Belfast, Northern Ireland, by Independent News & Media. Its editor is Eoin Brannigan. Reflecting its unionist tradition, the paper has historically been "favoured by the Protestant po ...

'' described him as the youngest ever High Sheriff of the city. He was elected as Deputy Lord Mayor for the 2013–14 term. In 2008 he was selected as the chairman of the Belfast District Policing Partnership. At the 2016 Northern Ireland Assembly election, he was one of two DUP candidates elected in South Belfast.

Death

Stalford died suddenly on 19 February 2022, at the age of 39. While Stalford was described as "unionist to the core", his funeral was attended by a range of political parties including

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gr ...

colleagues

John O'Dowd John Fitzgerald O'Dowd (born 10 May 1967) is an Irish Sinn Féin politician. He was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Upper Bann since 2003. He was previously the Minister for Infrastructure from May to October 2022 and the Mi ...

and

Deirdre Hargey Deirdre Hargey is an Irish Sinn Féin politician and former Minister for Communities within the Northern Ireland Executive, and a former Lord Mayor of Belfast. Hargey was co-opted to the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2020 to replace Máirtín ...

, SDLP MP

Claire Hanna Claire Aisling Hanna (born 19 June 1980) is an Irish Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) politician from Northern Ireland. In December 2019, she was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Belfast South in the House of Commons. Previous ...

and Alliance Party leader

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 ...

. When

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 ...

was elected to Stalford's former constituency of Belfast South at the 2022 Assembly election, he paid tribute to Stalford and pledged to "build a legacy for Christopher".

References

1983 births 2022 deaths Alumni of Queen's University Belfast Democratic Unionist Party MLAs High Sheriffs of Belfast Members of Belfast City Council Northern Ireland MLAs 2016–2017 Northern Ireland MLAs 2017–2022 People educated at Wellington College Belfast Politicians from Belfast {{NorthernIreland-politician-stub