David Honeyford
MLA
Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly
for Lagan Valley
Assumed office
5 May 2022
Preceded byPat Catney
Member of
Lisburn & Castlereagh Council
In office
7 May 2019 – 5 May 2022
Preceded byWilliam Leathem
Succeeded bySian Mulholland
ConstituencyKillutagh
Personal details
NationalityNorthern Irish
Political partyAlliance
OccupationPolitician

David Honeyford is an Alliance Party politician serving as a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Lagan Valley since 2022.

Political party memberships

He joined the Alliance Party in 2014 after a short introduction into politics with NI21, becoming a member of Alliance’s ruling Executive in 2016. He stepped down from that role in February 2017 after making a comment on Twitter, for which he apologised, that unionists were “bred to hate Catholics more than corruption”.[1][2]

Political career

Early career

In the May 2014 local elections to Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council, Honeyford was the NI21 candidate for the constituency of Killultagh. With the eve of poll collapse of NI21 Honeyford received 399 votes or 6.16% of First Preference Votes.[3]

Councillor (2019-2022)

Honeyford was first elected to Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council at the 2019 local elections for the Killultagh constituency. He topped the poll, with 20.3% of first preference votes and gained a seat for Alliance at the expense of the DUP's William Leathem. This was the first time an Alliance candidate had won in the Killultagh constituency[4]

Member of the Legislative Assembly (2022-)

Honeyford was later elected as an MLA in the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election for Lagan Valley, alongside fellow Alliance Party candidate Sorcha Eastwood, after winning 4,183 First Preference Votes. He was elected on the 7th count, taking the constituency's final seat from the SDLP's Pat Catney by a margin of 644 votes - the seventh closest margin in Northern Ireland.[5][6]

David is the Alliance Party Spokesperson for Sport and Community Development

Personal life

Honeyford works in construction and has been self-employed for 25 years.

As of May 2022, he is the Development Officer at Glenavy GAC, and was presented with the Club Member of the Year Award in 2018 and is an Irish and Ulster rugby fan.[7][8]

References

  1. ↑ Black, Rebecca (13 February 2017). "Alliance official steps down amid fury at 'unionists bred to hate Catholics' comment". Belfast Telegraph. Belfast. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  2. ↑ Monaghan, John (13 February 2017). "Member of Alliance's ruling Executive apologises after stating unionists 'have been bred to hate Catholics more than corruption'". The Irish News. Belfast. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  3. ↑ "Local Council Elections 2014 - Results by Stage". The Electoral Office for Northern Ireland. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  4. ↑ "Local Council Election Results". The Electoral Office for Northern Ireland. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
  5. ↑ "Lagan Valley result - Northern Ireland Assembly Elections 2022". BBC News. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  6. ↑ Manley, John (27 April 2022). "Constituency Notebook – DUP shenanigans have brought Lagan Valley into sharp focus". The Irish News. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  7. ↑ "David Honeyford". Twitter. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
  8. ↑ "Our Candidates". Alliance Party. Archived from the original on 10 May 2022. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
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