Stewart Dickson MLA |
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Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for East Antrim |
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Assumed office 2011 |
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Preceded by | Sean Neeson |
Personal details | |
Born |
Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland |
8 December 1950
Political party | Alliance |
Spouse(s) | Sandra |
Profession | Politician |
Religion | Presbyterian |
Stewart Dickson is an Alliance Party of Northern Ireland politician and was a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly, where he represented East Antrim. He sought re-election on the 2nd of March 2017 in a snap election that was called to the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scandal and was re-elected to the Assembly as one of five MLAs for this constituency.
Dickson entered politics in 1977, when he was elected to Carrickfergus Borough Council representing Area A, the predecessor of the Knockagh Monument electoral area. He lost his seat to the Democratic Unionist Party in the 1981 local elections but regained it at the 1985 local elections and has been re-elected at each local election since then. He served as Mayor from 1992 to 1993
Dickson unsuccessfully contested the East Antrim constituency at the 1996 Northern Ireland Forum election and the Assembly elections of 1998, 2003 and 2007, before winning the seat held by former Alliance leader Sean Neeson at the 2011 elections.
He is Chief Whip of the Alliance Party Assembly Group and a member of the party's Executive Committee. Dickson is a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly Committees for Social Development, Justice, and the Assembly Business committee, where he contributes to the formulation of the Assembly's weekly agenda. In addition to his Committee responsibilities, Dickson is a member of the Assembly All Party Groups on Diabetes (Vice Chair) and International Development. He was recently elected chair of the Assembly all Party Group on Social Enterprise.