Sammy Wilson

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Sammy Wilson MP MLA
Sammy Wilson
Minister of the Environment
Constituency	East Antrim (MP & MLA)

Born	April 4, 1953 (1953-04-04) (age 55) Belfast, Northern Ireland
Political party	Democratic Unionist Party
Website	http://www.sammywilson.org/

Sammy Wilson (born April 4, 1953, Belfast) is a politician in Northern Ireland and both Member of Parliament and a Member of the Legislative Assembly for East Antrim.^[1]

Educated at Methodist College Belfast, he went on to graduate in Economics and Politics from Queen's University, Belfast and then from Stranmillis Teaching College. Mr Wilson took up a teaching post at Grosvenor Grammar School after graduation where he was to become Head of Economics and Assistant Chief Examiner for A-Level Economics in Northern Ireland.

Wilson began his life in politics as the Democratic Unionist Party Press Officer and in 1981 he was elected as a DUP councillor to Belfast City Council, a position he will resign in June 2008. Mr Wilson became the first person from the party to serve as Lord Mayor of the City in 1985 and did so again in 1999.

Wilson was elected to the Northern Ireland Forum in May 1996 for the constituency of East Belfast (1996-98) and went on to represent this area again after the Northern Ireland Assembly in June 1998.

In the Assembly election of 2003 Wilson was successful in being re-elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly in the East Antrim constituency and was joined by fellow East Antrim party candidates George Dawson and David Hilditch. This momentum was carried through to the Westminster Election on 5 May 2005 which saw him being elected as Member of Parliament for East Antrim with 49.6% of the vote.

Wilson is a former member of the Northern Ireland Policing Board and Northern Ireland Housing Council, and at Westminster sits on the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee. He is the DUP spokesperson for Education and Policing, and has special political interest in socio-economic issues. At Westminster he is the Party spokesperson on Education and skills, as well as Housing.

Since the return of devolution to the Northern Ireland Assembly in May 2007, Mr Wilson has been best known for his criticism of Education Minister Caitroina Ruane, and her plans for the abolition of academic selection and the introduction of a comprehensive school system in Northern Ireland.

In June 2008, Mr Wilson became Minister of the Environment, much to the iritation of green and environmental groups. This was because of Mr Wilsons opposition to the creation of an indepedent environmental protection agency and his support of nuclear power. Mr Wilson was the winner of the Green Party's Green Wash award - the MLA most likely to damage the environment.

Away from politics Wilson is a keen gardener and motorbike enthusiast as well as taking an interest in animals and birds. Mr Wilson is known for his trademark moustache. He has frequently courted controversy, particularly when a series of candid holiday photographs showing Wilson nude were published by the Sunday World. After the incident Martin McGuinness of Sinn Féin addressed the Northern Ireland Assembly by saying "It is also very good to come across someone like Mr Sammy Wilson, whom I have never met, and it is great to see him today with his clothes on." He has also come in for criticism for his recent stance against the Pride parade that now takes place in Belfast.^[2]

His widest exposure on a UK-wide stage came on The Eleven O'Clock Show, when he participated in an 'interview' with comedy character Ali G.Despite having his fingers' burned from his Ali G experience Sammy regularly appears on the Stephen Nolan show, one of Northern Ireland's most popular radio shows.

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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Roy Beggs	Member of Parliament for Antrim East 2005-	Succeeded by Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by John Carson	Lord Mayor of Belfast 1986 — 87	Succeeded by John J. D. Gilmore
Preceded by Bob Stoker	Lord Mayor of Belfast 2000 - 01	Succeeded by Jim Rodgers