Gary Middleton (born 20 June 1990) is a Unionist politician from

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

representing the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). He has been a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Foyle since April 2015, when he was co-opted to replace

Maurice Devenney Alderman Maurice Devenney (born 1 January 1959) is a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician who served as a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Foyle from 2014 to 2015. Devenney succeeded retiring party member William Ha ...

. He served as Acting Junior Minister for the Executive Office from February to March 2021 while

Gordon Lyons Gordon Lyons (born 6 March 1986) is a Unionist politician from Northern Ireland representing the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). Lyons has been a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for East Antrim since August 2015. Lyons worke ...

was Acting Agriculture Minister while

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 aside due to ill health. In June 2021, Middleton replaced Lyons permanently as Junior Minister.

Early life

Born in

Newbuildings Newbuildings or New Buildings is a large village in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It lies close to the banks of the River Foyle and south of the city of Derry. It had a population of 3,381 in the 2011 Census. It is within Derry and Str ...

, County Londonderry, Middleton studied Computer Science at the

University of Ulster sco, Ulstèr Universitie , image = Ulster University coat of arms.png , caption = , motto_lang = , mottoeng = , latin_name = Universitas Ulidiae , established = 1865 – Magee College 1953 - Magee Un ...

, and also obtained a diploma in Civic Leadership and Community Planning from the same institution. Prior to becoming an MLA, he was a youth worker and also worked as an assistant to Foyle MLA William Hay and later

, who was himself co-opted to replace William Hay in October 2014 upon the latter's retirement after being elevated to the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

Electoral history

Middleton was first elected to

Derry City Council Derry City Council ( ga, Comhairle Cathrach Dhoire; Ulster-Scots: ''Derry Cittie Cooncil'') was the local government authority for the city of Derry in Northern Ireland. It merged with Strabane District Council in April 2015 under local governm ...

in 2011 at the age of 20, replacing William Hay by

co-option 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 ...

. He also served as Deputy Mayor from June 2013 – March 2015. In 2014 he was elected to the new

Derry and Strabane Ulster Scots: ''Derrie an Stràbane'' , settlement_type = District , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_type1 = Constituent country , subdivision_type2 = , subdivision_type3 = , subdivision ...

' super council' and was appointed group leader of the DUP councillors. In April 2015, he was co-opted to replace fellow DUP member

in the Northern Ireland Assembly, becoming the assembly's youngest member at 24. Shortly after joining the assembly, it was announced that Middleton would be the DUP's candidate for the Foyle constituency in the

United Kingdom general election This is a list of United Kingdom general elections (elections for the UK House of Commons) since the first in 1802. The members of the 1801–1802 Parliament had been elected to the former Parliament of Great Britain and Parliament of Ireland ...

, eventually finishing a distant third with 12.4% of the vote.

References

External links

DUP profileNI Assembly profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Middleton, Gary 1990 births Living people Democratic Unionist Party MLAs Councillors in Derry (city) Northern Ireland MLAs 2011–2016 Northern Ireland MLAs 2016–2017 Northern Ireland MLAs 2017–2022 People from County Londonderry