Trevor Clarke MLA (born 28 July 1967) is 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, serving 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 Antrim since June 2017, having previously served from

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

to March 2017. Clarke is the DUP's Spokesperson for

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Political career

Clarke was first elected in 2007 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 ...

as a

(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 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, which was criticised by

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

. 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 and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

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 The Loyal Orange Institution, commonly known as the Orange Order, is an international Protestant fraternal order based in Northern Ireland and primarily associated with Ulster Protestants. It also has lodges in England, Grand Orange Lodge of ...

. 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