History will be made later this week when Alderman John Blair becomes the North’s first openly gay MLA. He will replace the former Alliance Party leader and justice minister David Ford, who is retiring as South Antrim MLA.

On Tuesday night the Alliance Party councillor was voted by members to be Mr Ford’s successor following a contest with the former Belfast mayor Nuala McAllister. The 52-year-old, a former Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council mayor, will will take over from Mr Ford when he officially steps down as an MLA on Sunday, June 30th, 20 years after he took his seat in South Antrim on July 1st, 1998.

‘Honoured and delighted’

John Blair currently represents the Glengormley urban district electoral area on Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council. He is a Newtownabbey District Policing Partnership member and chairman of Antrim Line Community Policing Forum and Newtownabbey Citizens Advice Bureau.

“I am honoured and delighted to have been selected as the new Alliance MLA for South Antrim by my colleagues and party members. I want to also pay tribute to David Ford, whose leadership and vision has helped grow the party both in the constituency and wider,” he said.

“I will be looking to build on my previous work as councillor and provide a strong Alliance voice for local people, here in South Antrim and also in the Assembly. We are a growing party and we are already hitting the ground running ahead here of next year’s council elections.

Community encouragement

“Since deciding to run for the MLA seat, I have received support and encouragement from right across the community, showing the progressive and positive alternative Alliance represents. I want to be carrying out all the duties of an MLA, so it is vital the Secretary of State calls all-party talks with an independent mediator immediately, so we can all get back to Stormont and do the job people want us to do.

“I look forward to doing just that, while representing all the people of South Antrim and providing a strong voice for them, whether rural or urban.”

The cross-community Alliance Party, led by the East Belfast MLA Naomi Long since 2016, is the North’s fifth largest party. It holds eight of the 90 seats at Stormont, which collapsed in January 2017 following the breakdown in the relationship between the DUP and Sinn Féin.