Gary Middleton
Northern Irish politician (born 1990)
Gary Middleton (born 20 June 1990) is a Unionist former politician from Northern Ireland representing the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). He served as a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Foyle from 2015 until 2026. Middleton was the DUP Spokesperson for the North West.
He served as Acting Junior Minister for the Executive Office from February to March 2021 while Gordon Lyons was Acting Agriculture Minister while Edwin Poots stood aside due to ill health. In June 2021, Middleton replaced Lyons permanently as Junior Minister. Middleton resigned from politics in April 2026 due to concerns over his mental health.
01Early life
Born in Newbuildings, County Londonderry, Middleton studied Computer Science at the University of Ulster, and also obtained a diploma in Civic Leadership and Community Planning from the same institution. Prior to becoming an MLA, he was a youth worker and also worked as an assistant to Foyle MLA William Hay and later Maurice Devenney, who was himself co-opted to replace William Hay in October 2014 upon the latter's retirement after being elevated to the House of Lords.
02Electoral history
Middleton was first elected to Derry City Council in 2011 at the age of 20, replacing William Hay by co-option. He also served as Deputy Mayor from June 2013, March 2015.
In 2014 he was elected to the new Derry and Strabane 'super council' and was appointed group leader of the DUP councillors. In April 2015, he was co-opted to replace fellow DUP member Maurice Devenney in the Northern Ireland Assembly, becoming the assembly's youngest member at 24.
Shortly after joining the assembly, it was announced that Middleton would be the DUP's candidate for the Foyle constituency in the United Kingdom general election, eventually finishing a distant third with 12.4% of the vote.
In April 2026, Middleton resigned as an MLA on mental health grounds, being replaced by his wife Julie Middleton.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SDLP | Mark Durkan | 17,725 | 47.9 | +3.2 | |
| Sinn Féin | Gearóid Ó hEára | 11,679 | 31.6 | −0.4 | |
| DUP | Gary Middleton | 4,573 | 12.4 | +0.5 | |
| UUP | Julia Kee | 1,226 | 3.3 | +0.1 | |
| Alliance | David Hawthorne | 835 | 2.3 | +1.7 | |
| UKIP | Kyle Thompson | 832 | 2.2 | N/A | |
| NI Conservatives | Hamish Badenoch | 132 | 0.4 | N/A | |
| Majority | 6,046 | 16.3 | |||
| Turnout | 37,002 | 52.8 | −4.7 | ||
| SDLP hold | Swing | ||||
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Gary Middleton”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Gary Middleton, DUP.jpg by https://www.flickr.com/photos/thebiglunch/, CC BY-SA 2.0
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