Spouse Elaine Simpson Majority 2,264 (4.8%) Children KristyStevenLeah | Name David Simpson Residence Annagh, County Armagh Nationality British Role Politician Succeeded by Sydney Anderson | |
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Full Name Thomas David Simpson Education | ||
David simpson questions prime minister on agri foods
Thomas David Simpson (born 16 February 1959) is a Democratic Unionist (DUP) politician in the United Kingdom. He is the Member of Parliament for Upper Bann in Northern Ireland.
Contents
- David simpson questions prime minister on agri foods
- David simpson at prime minister s questions craigavon murder
- Political career
- In Parliament
- Personal life
- References
David simpson at prime minister s questions craigavon murder
Political career
Simpson was first elected to Craigavon Borough Council in 2001 and served as mayor in 2004-2005. In the 2001 general election Simpson stood unsuccessfully against Ulster Unionist Party leader David Trimble in the parliamentary constituency of Upper Bann. In 2003 he was elected a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Upper Bann.
In Parliament
Simpson won the parliamentary seat from Trimble in the 2005 general election and retained his council seat. He was re-elected to the Assembly in 2007 but resigned from the Assembly and from Craigavon Borough Council after being returned to Westminster in the 2010 general election.
Simpson used parliamentary privilege in 2007 to accuse Sinn Féin MLA Francie Molloy of involvement in the 1979 killing of Simpson's cousin, a former police officer. He alleged that Molloy had been an informer working for the British state within the IRA. Molloy denied both claims.
Simpson was a member of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments and the Commons Committee on Statutory Instruments (2006-2009). and the Transport Select Committee (2007-2009). He joined the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee in 2009.
He has been DUP Spokesperson on Trade and Industry (2005-2007), Transport (2007-2009), Young People (2007-2010), International Development (2007-2010), and Business, Innovation and Skills (2009 to present), Communities and Local Government (2010 to present) and Education (2012 to present).
Simpson is chairman of the DUP Upper Bann Constituency Association and is a member of the Orange Order, in which he is Deputy Master of Loughgall District. He is a proponent of creationism, and his former election agent and constituency assistant, David McConaghie, who had played a key role in Simpson's 2005 election victory, was until late 2012 a prominent spokesperson for the Caleb Foundation which represented creationist and socially conservative evangelical Protestant views.
He spoke and voted against the UK Government's Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill in February 2013 stating that "this is not the jurisdiction of this house [...] this is an ordained constitution of God, and that'll end in 'In the garden of Eden it was Adam and Eve it wasn't Adam and Steve.'" The Bill covers England and Wales as family law is devolved in Northern Ireland.
Simpson is also a supporter of homeopathy, having signed several early day motions in support of its continued funding on the National Health Service sponsored by Conservative MP David Tredinnick.
Personal life
Simpson went to the Birches Primary School six miles north-west of Portadown, and then to Killicomaine Junior High School in Portadown. He later studied at the College of Business Studies in Belfast (now Belfast Metropolitan College) and worked in the Universal Meat Company in Portadown. Simpson is married with a son and two daughters, and lives in Portadown. He is also involved in youth work and drugs rehabilitation programmes. Despite not living in the consistency of Upper Bann he is the current MP for the area.