Duncan Shipley-Dalton

Duncan Shipley Dalton
Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Antrim South
In office 25 June 1998 – 26 November 2003
Preceded by	New Creation
Succeeded by	David Burnside
Personal details
Born	7 November 1970
Political party	Ulster Unionist Party
Alma mater	University of Essex, Queen's University Belfast, Harvard University
Profession	Barrister
Religion	Atheist

Duncan Shipley Dalton (born 7 November 1970) is a former Unionist politician in Northern Ireland.

Born in Newport, Isle of Wight, Shipley Dalton attended the University of Essex and Queen's University Belfast before becoming a barrister. He holds degrees in Law LL.B(Hons), Human Rights Law LL.M and Public Administration MPA. From 1994-98, he served in the Royal Irish Regiment.^[1]

Biography

Shipley Dalton was a strong supporter of the Belfast Agreement.^[2] At the 1998 Northern Ireland Assembly election, Shipley Dalton was elected for the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) in South Antrim.^[1] He initially aimed to be selected as the party's candidate in the South Antrim by-election in 2000, but later withdrew, claiming that the party leadership intended David Campbell to be their candidate. He endorsed Campbell, but announced his retirement from politics at the forthcoming 2003 election.^[2]

After standing down, Shipley Dalton moved to the United States, where he was an active supporter of the Democratic Party.^[3] In 2007 he received a Master in Public Administration (MPA) degree from Harvard University.

He returned to the UK in 2008 and now lives in Southampton.

In May 2012 he joined the UK Labour Party and has since then been a supporter and activist in the Labour Party. In the 2015 and 2016 Labour Party Leadership elections he supported Jeremy Corbyn. He is also a member of the Unite Union, Momentum and Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) organisations.

References

1. Biography - Duncan Shipley Dalton, Northern Ireland Assembly
2. "Unionist quits poll contest", BBC News
3. "The answer is yeth", Slugger O'Toole