Simpson Gibson | |
Honorific-Suffix: | MLA |
Office: | Member of the Legislative Assembly for Strangford |
Assembly: | Northern Ireland |
Term Start: | 2 August 2010 |
Term End: | 24 March 2011 |
Predecessor: | Jim Shannon |
Successor: | Mike Nesbitt |
Office1: | Mayor of Ards |
Term Start1: | 1987 |
Term End1: | 1988 |
Office2: | Member of Ards Borough Council |
Constituency2: | Newtownards |
Term Start2: | 15 May 1985 |
Term End2: | 21 May 1997 |
Predecessor2: | New district |
Successor2: | George Ennis |
Constituency3: | Ards Area B |
Term Start3: | 20 May 1981 |
Term End3: | 15 May 1985 |
Predecessor3: | William Boal |
Successor3: | District abolished |
Office4: | Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for North Down |
Term Start4: | 20 October 1982 |
Term End4: | 1986 |
Predecessor4: | Assembly re-established |
Successor4: | Assembly abolished |
Birth Date: | 10 August 1946 |
Birth Place: | Saintfield, Northern Ireland |
Nationality: | British |
Party: | Democratic Unionist Party |
Hugh John Simpson Gibson MBE (born 10 August 1946) is a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician in Northern Ireland who was a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Strangford from 2010 to 2011.
Gibson studied at Saintfield Secondary School and Shaftesbury House Tutorial College, before working as a farmer and becoming a member of the Orange Order.[1] He joined the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and was elected to Ards Borough Council in 1981.[2] He held his seat until he stood down in 1997,[3] serving as Mayor of Ards in 1987-88.
At the 1982 Northern Ireland Assembly election, Gibson was elected in North Down.[4] He contested Strangford at the 1983 general election, taking second place, with 30% of the votes cast.[5] In the mid-1990s, he served as Vice-Chairman of the DUP.[6] In August 2010, Gibson was appointed to the Northern Ireland Assembly as the replacement for Jim Shannon.[7] He did not stand in the 2011 Assembly election in which the DUP held three of its four seats, losing Gibson's to the Ulster Unionist Party.
Gibson was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2015 New Year Honours for political service to the DUP and services to the community in Northern Ireland.[8]