Preceded by Office Created Name Steven Agnew Occupation Politician | Political party Green Party Role Political leader | |
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Born 12 October 1979 (age 44) Dundonald, Northern Ireland ( 1979-10-12 ) Party Green Party in Northern Ireland | ||
Steven agnew on the welfare reform bill
Steven Agnew (born 12 October 1979) is the leader of the Green Party in Northern Ireland. He was elected as an MLA to the Northern Ireland Assembly in May 2011.
Contents
- Steven agnew on the welfare reform bill
- Steven agnew s speech at the ni assembly on the sexual orientation strategy
- Early life
- Political career
- References
Steven agnew s speech at the ni assembly on the sexual orientation strategy
Early life
Agnew was born in Dundonald and studied at Brooklands Primary School, Grosvenor Grammar School and Queen's University Belfast. Sammy Wilson and Michelle McIlveen were teachers at his school. He grew up around a "very negative political landscape", where politics was "about being anti-Catholic, anti the Pope and anti-Sinn Féin."
Political career
Agnew joined the Green Party in 2003 during its campaign against the invasion of Iraq. During a protest march from Queen's to the US Consulate, he met John Barry, who convinced him that "the Green Party had a practical agenda of what needed to be changed". He came to believe "environmental justice is interlinked" with social justice.
At the 2007 Northern Ireland Assembly election, he stood in Belfast East, where he took 2.2% of the vote and was not elected. Brian Wilson was successful for the party at the election, and Agnew became his full-time research officer. He was the party's candidate for the 2009 European Parliament election in the Northern Ireland constituency, where he increased the party's share to 3.3%, although he still came bottom of the poll. At the 2010 United Kingdom general election, he stood in North Down, taking 3.1% of the votes cast.
In January 2011, Agnew was elected as the first leader of the Green Party, beating Cadogan Enright in a postal ballot. He successfully contested the North Down seat in the 2011 Northern Ireland Assembly election.
