Trevor Clarke
MLA (born 28 July 1967) 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).
Political career
Clarke was first elected in 2007 to the
Northern Ireland Assembly as a
Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) member for
South Antrim. Clarke lost his seat at the
2017 Assembly election, but was later co-opted by the DUP after
Paul Girvan
William Paul Girvan (born 6 July 1963) is a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician, who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for South Antrim since 2017.
He was elected to Newtownabbey Borough Council in 1997, and from 2002 to 2004 s ...
was elected in the
2017 general election to represent South Antrim in the House of Commons.
Controversies
Speaking in the Assembly in November 2016, he confessed to not knowing that heterosexual individuals could contract
HIV
The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...
, which was criticised by
Elton John.
In 2020, Clarke apologised for liking a social media post suggesting that the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
was "God's punishment" for the legalization of same-sex marriage and abortion.
In 2021, Clarke defended meeting with loyalist paramilitaries, stating that "examples like that" showed "leadership".
Personal life
Clarke is active in the
Orange Order.
His wife Linda is a DUP councillor.
References
Links
Profile dup.org.uk; accessed 15 May 2016.
Living people
Democratic Unionist Party MLAs
Northern Ireland MLAs 2007–2011
Northern Ireland MLAs 2011–2016
Northern Ireland MLAs 2016–2017
Councillors in Northern Ireland
Presbyterians from Northern Ireland
1967 births
Place of birth missing (living people)
Northern Ireland MLAs 2017–2022
Northern Ireland MLAs 2022–2027
{{NorthernIreland-politician-stub