Jim Shannon

Richard James Shannon (born 25 March 1955) is a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician in Northern Ireland.

Shannon served in the Ulster Defence Regiment for a total of three years, in 1974-1975 and 1976-1977.

Shannon was a longstanding councillor, first elected to Ards Borough Council in 1985 and serving as Mayor in 1991–1992.

Shannon served over eleven years in the Royal Artillery Territorial Army (TA) and achieved the rank of Lance Bombardier, until he was expelled in May 1989.

Two other TA soldiers were also discharged.

The expulsions followed the theft of Blowpipe man-portable surface-to-air missile components from the TA base in Newtownards by the loyalist paramilitary group Ulster Resistance.

A colleague stationed at the Newtownards base, Sergeant Samuel Quinn, had been arrested at the Hilton Hotel, Paris in April 1989 attempting to exchange missile technology for guns from Apartheid South Africa.

Two other members of Ulster Resistance, Noel Little and James King, were also arrested.

Both men were long-time DUP activists.

Shannon later confirmed that following his dismissal from the Territorial Army he had been questioned by the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) and released without charge.

He suggested that his arrest was "designed to embarrass the DUP" ahead of the upcoming European Parliament election.

He was elected as a member of the Northern Ireland Forum for Political Dialogue in 1996.

He had previously sat in the Northern Ireland Assembly from 1998 to 2010 as the Member of the Legislative Assembly of Northern Ireland (MLA) for Strangford.

He is an advocate for Leave Means Leave, a pro-Brexit campaign.

Shannon 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.

In 2022, Shannon broke down in tears as he thanked his "long-suffering" wife in the Commons.

Shannon lost his mother-in-law to Covid-19 and has previously spoken about her in the House as well.

Shannon was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly for Strangford in 1998 and then re-elected in 2003 and 2007, representing the DUP.

He has sat in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom since 2010 as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Strangford and is the DUP's Health Spokesperson.

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 (9,050 votes).

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 seat in favour of Joe Hagan, who was subsequently deselected.

In 2015, he was the highest-claiming MP out of 650, claiming £205,798, not including travel which lead to his expenses being investigated.

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 2016, the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority announced it was launching a formal investigation into Shannon's expenses.

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 expressed his views on claims made by Margaret Hodge of alleged tax avoidance by the company, describing the behaviour as "simply disgraceful", and called for Government to "ensure that big business has to pay a reasonable rate of tax."

During a November 2023 debate on controlling the UK's squirrel population, Shannon referred to grey squirrels as the "Hamas of the squirrel world".

Grey squirrels pose a threat to local red squirrel populations as they can outcompete them for food and are prolific breeders.

Shannon's comment was met with bewilderment on social media.