Simpson Gibson

Simpson Gibson MLA
Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Strangford
In office 2 August 2010 – 24 March 2011
Preceded by	Jim Shannon
Succeeded by	Mike Nesbitt
Personal details
Born	10 August 1946
Nationality	British
Political party	Democratic Unionist Party

Hugh John Simpson Gibson MBE (born 10 August 1946) is a unionist politician in Northern Ireland.

Gibson studied at Saintfield Secondary School and Shaftesbury House Tutorial College, before working as a farmer and becoming a member of the Orange Order.^[1] He joined the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and was elected to Ards Borough Council in 1981.^[2] He held his seat until he stood down in 1997,^[3] serving as Mayor of Ards in 1987/88.

At the Northern Ireland Assembly election, 1982, Gibson was elected in North Down.^[4] He contested Strangford at the 1983 UK general election, taking second place, with 30% of the votes cast.^[5] In the mid-1990s, he served as Vice-Chairman of the DUP.^[6]

In August 2010, Gibson was appointed to the Northern Ireland Assembly as the replacement for Jim Shannon.^[7] He did not stand in the 2011 Assembly election in which the DUP held three of its four seats, losing Gibson's to the Ulster Unionist Party.

Gibson was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2015 New Year Honours for political service to the DUP and services to the community in Northern Ireland.^[8][9]

References

1. The Times Guide to the House of Commons, June 1983
2. The Local Government Elections 1973-1981: Ards, Northern Ireland Elections
3. Ards Borough Council Elections, 1993-2005, Northern Ireland Elections
4. North Down 1973-1982, Northern Ireland Elections
5. Strangford, Northern Ireland Elections
6. Dod's Parliamentary Companion (1996), p.778
7. Membership of the Northern Ireland Assembly, Northern Ireland Assembly
8. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 61092. p. N19. 31 December 2014.
9. 2015 New Year Honours List

External links

• NIA profile