David Hilditch (23 July 1963 – 5 November 2023) was a

Democratic Unionist Party The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a Unionism in Ireland, unionist, Ulster loyalism, loyalist, British nationalist and national conservative political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1971 during the Troubles by Ian Paisley, who ...

(DUP) politician who was a

Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs; ; ) are representatives elected by the voters to the Northern Ireland Assembly. About The Northern Ireland Assembly has 90 elected members – five from each of 18 constituencies, the boundaries o ...

(MLA) for East Antrim from

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

to 2023.

Biography

David Hilditch was born in

Carrickfergus Carrickfergus ( , meaning " Fergus' rock") is a large town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It sits on the north shore of Belfast Lough, from Belfast. The town had a population of 28,141 at the 2021 census. It is County Antrim's oldest t ...

on 23 July 1963. He previously worked in the construction industry and for

Royal Mail Royal Mail Group Limited, trading as Royal Mail, is a British postal service and courier company. It is owned by International Distribution Services. It operates the brands Royal Mail (letters and parcels) and Parcelforce Worldwide (parcels) ...

between 1987 and 1998. In February 1997 he was awarded the RUC Bravery Award following a post office robbery. He was first elected to Carrickfergus Borough Council in 1991. He was elected as deputy mayor in 1995 and elected to mayor in 1997 and also served as mayor from 2004 to 2008. Hilditch was elected to the

Northern Ireland Assembly The Northern Ireland Assembly (; ), often referred to by the metonym ''Stormont'', is the devolved unicameral legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliam ...

(MLA) for East Antrim in 1998 and again in both 2003 and 2007. He was one of the top questioners in the 1998–2003 Assembly, serving on the Employment and Learning Committee and Culture Arts and Leisure Committee. He was the vice-chair of the Social Development Committee, and was a member of the Standards and Privileges Committee and the Employment and Learning Committee. He was also secretary of Carrick Rangers Football club. At the 2017 Assembly election, he was re-elected on the first count. At the 2022 Assembly election, he was elected on the fifth count. Hilditch was a member of the Apprentice Boys. His son, Stuart, died on 10 September 2019 after a three-year battle with

multiple myeloma Multiple myeloma (MM), also known as plasma cell myeloma and simply myeloma, is a cancer of plasma cells, a type of white blood cell that normally produces antibody, antibodies. Often, no symptoms are noticed initially. As it progresses, bone ...

. He resigned from the Assembly in September 2023, due to ill health. Hilditch died from cancer on 5 November 2023, at the age of 60.

External links

Biography at Northern Ireland Assembly websiteDavid Hilditch
at

TheyWorkForYou TheyWorkForYou is a parliamentary monitoring website operated by mySociety which aims to make it easier for UK citizens to understand what is going on in Westminster, as well as the Scottish Parliament, the Senedd and the Northern Ireland Assem ...

BBC profile

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hilditch, David 1963 births 2023 deaths People from Carrickfergus Democratic Unionist Party MLAs Members of Carrickfergus Borough Council Mayors of places in Northern Ireland Northern Ireland MLAs 1998–2003 Northern Ireland MLAs 2003–2007 Northern Ireland MLAs 2007–2011 Northern Ireland MLAs 2011–2016 Northern Ireland MLAs 2016–2017 Northern Ireland MLAs 2017–2022 Northern Ireland MLAs 2022–2027 Deaths from cancer in Northern Ireland