Christopher John Hazzard (born 20 August 1984) is an Irish

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

politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for South Down since 2017. He previously served as Minister for Infrastructure from 2016 to 2017 and as a

Member of the Legislative Assembly A Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected to sit in a legislative assembly. The term most commonly refers to members of the legislature of a federated state or an autonomous region, but is also used for several nation ...

(MLA) for South Down from 2012 to 2017.

Early life

Christopher John Hazzard was born in Drumaness, County Down, in 1984. The eldest of four siblings, he attended Our Lady and St Patrick's College, Knock, before going to

Queen's University Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...

Political career

Hazzard previously worked as a press officer for

. He was selected by his party as a member (MLA) of the Northern Ireland Assembly to represent the South Down constituency in April 2012. He replaced his party colleague Willie Clarke, who had retired to concentrate on his local council work. Hazzard was the Minister for Infrastructure in Northern Ireland from May 2016 until the Executive's collapse in January 2017. He was also a member of the Education Committee from 2012 to 2016 and the Public Accounts Committee from 2013 to 2014. At the snap general election held on 8 June 2017, he was elected as the MP for South Down, defeating the incumbent SDLP MP, Margaret Ritchie. It is the first time that his party have represented the seat.

Personal life

Hazzard is a

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional Irish sports o ...

member and PhD candidate at

. He was, at the time of his selection, the youngest MLA. He is married to Lisa, and the couple have a daughter, Eva, who was born in August 2015.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hazzard, Chris Living people Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Down constituencies (since 1922) Ministers of the Northern Ireland Executive (since 1999) Northern Ireland MLAs 2011–2016 Northern Ireland MLAs 2016–2017 Northern Ireland MLAs 2017–2022 People educated at Our Lady and St. Patrick's College, Knock Politicians from County Down Sinn Féin MLAs Sinn Féin MPs (post-1921) UK MPs 2017–2019 UK MPs 2019–2024 UK MPs 2024–present 1984 births Alumni of Queen's University Belfast