Jim Shannon
MP
Official portrait, 2020
Member of Parliament
for Strangford
Assumed office
6 May 2010
Preceded byIris Robinson
Majority7,071 (18.9%)
Member of the Legislative Assembly
for Strangford
In office
25 June 1998 – August 2010
Preceded byOffice created
Succeeded bySimpson Gibson
Personal details
Born (1955-03-25) 25 March 1955
Omagh, Northern Ireland
NationalityBritish
Political partyDemocratic Unionist Party
SpouseSandra Shannon
Children3
Residence(s)Greyabbey, Northern Ireland
ProfessionFarmer
WebsiteJim Shannon MP

Richard James Shannon (born 25 March 1955) is a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician in Northern Ireland. He has sat in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom since 2010 as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Strangford and is the DUP's Health Spokesperson.[1] He had previously sat in the Northern Ireland Assembly from 1998 to 2010 as the Member of the Legislative Assembly of Northern Ireland (MLA) for Strangford. He is an advocate for Leave Means Leave, a pro-Brexit campaign.[2]

Personal life

Shannon is a member of the Orange Order and Apprentice Boys of Derry.[3] He has been voted "least sexy MP" in a list of all Westminster MPs but laughed off his position at the bottom of the poll.[4] In 2022, Shannon broke down in tears as he thanked his "long-suffering" wife in the Commons. Shannon lost his mother-in-law to Covid-19 and has previously spoken about her in the House as well.[5]

Military service

Shannon served in the Ulster Defence Regiment for a total of three years, in 1974-1975 and 1976-1977.[6] Shannon served over eleven years in the Royal Artillery Territorial Army (TA) and achieved the rank of Lance Bombardier,[7][8] until he was expelled in May 1989.[9][10][11] Two other TA soldiers were also discharged.[11][10] The expulsions followed the theft of Blowpipe man-portable surface-to-air missile components from the TA base in Newtownards by the loyalist paramilitary group Ulster Resistance.[11][12] A colleague stationed at the Newtownards base, Sergeant Samuel Quinn, had been arrested at the Hilton Hotel, Paris in April 1989 attempting to exchange missile technology for guns from Apartheid South Africa.[11] Two other members of Ulster Resistance, Noel Little and James King, were also arrested. Both men were long-time DUP activists.[13][11]

Shannon later confirmed that following his dismissal from the Territorial Army he had been questioned by the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) and released without charge. He suggested that his arrest was "designed to embarrass the DUP" ahead of the upcoming European Parliament election.[14]

Political career

Shannon was a longstanding councillor, first elected to Ards Borough Council in 1985 and serving as Mayor in 1991–1992. He was elected as a member of the Northern Ireland Forum for Political Dialogue in 1996. Shannon was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly for Strangford in 1998 and then re-elected in 2003 and 2007, representing the DUP.

At the 2010 general election Shannon won in his own constituency of Strangford with 14,926 votes compared to the runners-up, the Ulster Conservatives and Unionists (9,050 votes).[15] The seat had been vacant since the resignation of fellow DUP MP Iris Robinson on 13 January 2010. Following his election to Westminster, he resigned his Assembly seat in favour of Simpson Gibson.[16] He also resigned his council seat in favour of Joe Hagan, who was subsequently deselected.

In 2016, the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority announced it was launching a formal investigation into Shannon's expenses. In 2015, he was the highest-claiming MP out of 650, claiming £205,798, not including travel which lead to his expenses being investigated.[17] The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority found breaches of the MPs' Scheme of Business Costs and Expenses by his constituency workers for claiming mileage and said £13,925 must be repaid by the MP.[18][19]

In March 2019, Shannon was one of 21 MPs who voted against LGBT-inclusive sex and relationship education in English schools.[20][21]

Shannon is one of the most active contributors to Parliamentary debates, intervening in almost every adjournment debate, which he says he does to support fellow backbench MPs who wish to raise issues in typically poorly attended debates.[22]

Speaking in a House of Commons adjournment debate on Netflix, Shannon expressed his views on claims made by Margaret Hodge of alleged tax avoidance by the company, describing the behaviour as "simply disgraceful",[23] and called for Government to "ensure that big business has to pay a reasonable rate of tax."[24] During a November 2023 debate on controlling the UK's squirrel population, Shannon referred to grey squirrels as the "Hamas of the squirrel world".[25] Grey squirrels pose a threat to local red squirrel populations as they can outcompete them for food and are prolific breeders.[26] Shannon's comment was met with bewilderment on social media.[27]

References

  1. ↑ "Jim Shannon MP". DUP. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
  2. ↑ "Co-Chairmen - Political Advisory Board - Supporters". Leave Means Leave. Archived from the original on 24 October 2017. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
  3. ↑ Jim Shannon MP MLA DUP
  4. ↑ Spackman, Conor (31 May 2011). "Jim Shannon laughs off least sexy MP rating". BBC News.
  5. ↑ "MP's emotional tribute to 'long-suffering' wife in Commons speech". ITV News. 21 December 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  6. ↑ The Newsroom, The Newsroom (6 January 2017). "Jim Shannon: Saluting the bravery of the UDR". Belfast News Letter. Archived from the original on 11 June 2017. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  7. ↑ "MoD silent on TA dimissal 'probe'", Belfast Telegraph 30 May 1989.
  8. ↑ Jim Shannon, MP (17 November 2015). "Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP), Reserve Forces, Tuesday 17 November 2015". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). United Kingdom: House of Commons.
  9. ↑ "Religion and Violence: The Case of Paisley and Ulster Evangelical" (PDF). Archived from the original on 27 February 2021. Retrieved 1 May 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  10. 1 2 "Sacked soldiers cases probed", Belfast News Letter 30 May 1989.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 Bruce, Steven (2001). "Religion and Violence: The Case of Paisley and Ulster Evangelicals". Religion. 31 (4): 387–405. doi:10.1006/reli.2001.0357. S2CID 145007214.
  12. ↑ "Call for army-Loyalist enquiry", Evening Echo 30 May 1989.
  13. ↑ Peter Taylor (1999). Loyalists. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 188. ISBN 978-0-7475-4519-4.
  14. ↑ "Ex-TA man questioned", Belfast News Letter 24 June 1989.
  15. ↑ "_Jim Shannon keeps Iris seat for the DUP". BBC News. 7 May 2010. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  16. ↑ Northern Ireland Assembly Archived 2007-11-17 at the Wayback Machine, note 14
  17. ↑ McDonald, Henry (1 November 2016). "Expense claims of DUP MP Jim Shannon to be investigated". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  18. ↑ Bell, Jonny (26 May 2016). "DUP Strangford MP Jim Shannon to repay £14k Westminster expenses". Belfast Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  19. ↑ "Expenses of DUP MP Shannon by far highest in House of Commons". The Irish Times. 26 May 2016. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  20. ↑ Butterworth, Benjamin (28 March 2019). "MPs vote for LGBT inclusive sex and relationship education from primary school". i News. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  21. ↑ "Draft Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education and Health Education (England) Regulations 2019". CommonsVotes. Archived from the original on 29 March 2019. Retrieved 29 March 2019.
  22. ↑ "Commons' most prolific contributing MP says he just wants to support colleagues". Belfast Telegraph. 8 January 2018. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  23. ↑ Goldbart, Max (4 February 2020). "Netflix blasted by MPs over UK tax affairs". Screen International. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  24. ↑ "Netflix: Tax Affairs". UK Parliament. 3 February 2020. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  25. ↑ Ladden-Hall, Dan (29 November 2023). "Lawmaker Slammed After Likening Gray Squirrels to Hamas". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  26. ↑ Davis, Barney (29 November 2023). "MP labels grey squirrels 'Hamas of the squirrel world'". The Independent. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  27. ↑ Daniel, Alex (29 November 2023). "DUP MP compares grey squirrels to Hamas – no, really". indy100. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
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