Jim Shannon


Richard James Shannon is a Democratic Unionist politician from Northern Ireland. He has sat in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom since 2010 as the Member of Parliament for Strangford. He had previously sat in the Northern Ireland Assembly from 1998 to 2010 as the Member of the Legislative Assembly of Northern Ireland for Strangford. He is an advocate for Leave Means Leave, a pro-Brexit campaign.

Personal life

Shannon was educated at Ballywalter Primary School and Coleraine Academical Institution. He was a soldier in the Ulster Defence Regiment in 1973–1975 and 1976–1977 and was awarded the General Service Medal. He served in the Royal Artillery TA from 1977–88. He is a member of the Orange Order and Apprentice Boys of Derry.
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.

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. 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. He also resigned his council 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. In 2016 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.
In March 2019, Shannon was one of 21 MPs who voted against LGBT inclusive sex and relationship education in English schools.
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.
Speaking in a House of Commons adjournment debate on Netflix, Shannon referred to claims by Dame Margaret Hodge of alleged tax avoidance by the company as "simply disgraceful" and called for Government to "ensure that big business has to pay a reasonable rate of tax."