Northern Irish politician

Robin Swann (born 24 September 1971) is a politician from Northern Ireland. He was the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party from 2017 to 2019.

Swann was first elected to the Northern Ireland *embly at the 2011 election, representing North Antrim, and was re-elected in 2016, 2017 and 2022.

From 6 April 2012, he served as Ulster Unionist Chief Whip, a position he retained until he was elected unopposed as UUP leader in April 2017. He resigned as UUP leader in November 2019. Swann stood as the UUP candidate in North Antrim in the December 2019 general election, which saw their vote more than double to 18.5%, taking the party to second place in the cons*uency. In 2020, he was appointed Minister of Health and has since been leading the response of the Northern Ireland Executive to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Contents

• 1 Political activity
• 2 Death threats
• 3 Current positions
• 4 Family and personal life
• 5 References
• 6 External links

Political activity

Elected to the Northern Ireland *embly on 7 May 2011, he successfully defended his seat in the 2016 *embly election and at the snap election in March 2017, where he was the first unionist elected in North Antrim.

In the 2022 election Swann went on to top the North Antrim poll.

During the short 2016 *embly mandate he was Chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee which commenced the Inquiry into the RHI scandal. He also served as Chairman of the Committee for Employment and Learning on 27 February 2013, a position he held until the Committee was dissolved on 30 April 2016.

He is a member of Kells & Connor Community *ociation and has served as a Board member of the Volunteer Development Agency in Northern Ireland. Swann has served as President and County Antrim Chairman of the Young Farmers' Clubs of Ulster. He has chaired the YFCU's National Executive and Rural Affairs Committees and has been Chairman of the Rural Youth Europe organisation.

In the 2022 *embly election, Swann topped the poll in North Antrim after his work as health minister during the COVID-19 pandemic. Swann credited his success to the work of those in the health service.

Death threats

On 2 February 2022 a 44 year old man was charged with threatening to kill Swann, har*ment and improper use of a telecommunications network.

Current positions

• Northern Ireland Minister of Health since January 2020 -

Family and personal life

He and his wife Jennifer have a daughter and a son. Their son was born with a congenital heart defect, and while in Birmingham where a corrective procedure was performed, Swann recorded the events in a personal blog.

References

External links

• Northern Ireland *embly profile
• They work for you - *embly appearances
• Ulster Unionist Party profile