Chris Hazzard
Chris Hazzard is an Irish Sinn Féin politician who has been the Member of Parliament for South Down since the 2017 general election, when he defeated incumbent Margaret Ritchie of the SDLP. Due to Sinn Féin's policy of abstentionism with regard to the Westminster Parliament of the United Kingdom, Hazzard has not taken his seat.
He was selected by his party as a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly to represent the South Down constituency in April 2012. He was the Minister for Infrastructure in Northern Ireland from May 2016 until the Executive's collapse in January 2017. At the Snap General Election held on 8 June 2017 he became an MP.
The eldest of four siblings, he attended Our Lady and St Patrick's College, Knock. He replaced his party colleague Willie Clarke, who had retired to concentrate on his local council work. A Gaelic Athletic Association member and PhD candidate at Queen's University Belfast. He was, at the time of his selection, the youngest MLA.
