Gordon Lyons

Minister for Communities of Northern Ireland since 2024

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Gordon Lyons

MLA

Minister for Communities

Incumbent

Assumed office
3 February 2024
First Minister| Michelle O'Neill
Preceded by| Deirdre Hargey
Minister for the Economy
In office
6 July 2021 – 27 October 2022
First Minister| Paul Givan
Vacant
Preceded by| Paul Frew
Succeeded by| Conor Murphy (2024)
Minister of Agriculture, Environment, and Rural Affairs
In office
2 February 2021 – 8 March 2021
First Minister| Arlene Foster
Preceded by| Edwin Poots
Succeeded by| Edwin Poots
Junior Minister at the Executive Office
In office
8 March 2021 – 17 June 2021

Serving with Declan Kearney

First Minister| Arlene Foster
Preceded by| Gary Middleton
Succeeded by| Gary Middleton
In office
11 January 2020 – 2 February 2021

Serving with Declan Kearney

First Minister| Arlene Foster
Preceded by| Alastair Ross
Succeeded by| Gary Middleton
Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly
for East Antrim

Incumbent

Assumed office
19 August 2015
Preceded by| Sammy Wilson
Member of
Mid and East Antrim Borough Council
In office
22 May 2014 – 19 August 2015
Preceded by| Council established
Succeeded by| Angela Smyth
Constituency| Coast Road
Personal details
Born|  (1986-03-06) 6 March 1986 (age 39)
Coleraine, Northern Ireland
Nationality| British
Political party| Democratic Unionist Party
Alma mater| Newcastle University

Gordon Lyons (born 6 March 1986) is a Northern Irish unionist politician, serving as Minister for Communities since 2024. He has also served as Director of Elections for the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) since 2021. He was Minister for the Economy in the Northern Ireland Executive from 2021 to 2022, and has been a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for East Antrim since August 2015. He is the DUP's Spokesperson for Finance, Public Service Reform and the Northern Ireland Protocol as of 2023.[1]

Upon his temporary appointment as Minister of Agriculture, Environment, and Rural Affairs in 2021, Lyons was described as an "up-and-coming" member of the DUP.[2] In 2024, Lyons had been considered in the running to become deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland before DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson selected Emma Little-Pengelly.[3] However, in June 2025, he was beaten by DUP backbencher Paul Frew in an internal contest to become party secretary.[4] Amidst the 2025 Northern Ireland riots, the Assembly Communities Committee expressed no confidence in Lyons as Minister on 12 June 2025.[5]

## Career

[edit]

### Early career

[edit]

Lyons worked as an assistant to DUP MLA Sammy Wilson for five years. He stood unsuccessfully in East Antrim at the 2011 Northern Ireland Assembly election, and also for the Coast Road area of Larne Borough Council in the local elections held that same day.[6][7]

At the 2014 local elections, Lyons was elected for the Coast Road area on the new Mid and East Antrim District Council,[8] and in August 2015, he was co-opted to take Wilson's place on the Assembly.[9]

Lyons was re-elected at the 2016 Assembly Election, and was a member of the Economy Committee and Chairman of the Committee for Procedures.

Following his re-election at the 2017 NI Assembly Election, Lyons was appointed by DUP Leader Arlene Foster as the DUP Assembly Group Chief Whip.

### Executive career (2020–present)

[edit]

When devolution was restored on 11 January 2020, First Minister Arlene Foster appointed Lyons as Junior Minister in the Executive Office.

He served as the Minister of Agriculture, Environment, and Rural Affairs after Edwin Poots stood down temporarily for health reasons.[10]

On 6 July 2021 he became Minister for the Economy after being appointed by the DUP's newly elected Leader Jeffrey Donaldson, taking over from Paul Frew.[11]

#### Minister for Communities (2024–present)

[edit]

When the Northern Ireland Assembly was restored on 3 February 2024, the new Executive was formed and the DUP appointed Lyons to serve as Minister for Communities.[12] In 2025, Lyons introduced the Sign Language Bill, communicating in sign language for part of his speech.[13]

In June 2025, Lyons was defeated "convincingly" by DUP backbencher Paul Frew in an internal contest to become party secretary.[14]

##### 2025 Northern Ireland riots

[edit]

People targeted in their homes during the 2025 Northern Ireland riots in Ballymena were temporarily moved to Larne leisure centre on 11 June 2025, which falls inside Lyons' East Antrim constituency.[15] Lyons revealed this information in a social media post, stating that “It has been brought to my attention that a number of individuals were temporarily moved to Larne Leisure Centre in the early hours of the morning following the disturbances in Ballymena." Following this, the centre was set ablaze after vandalism at the facility on the third night of disorder across Northern Ireland as part of the riots.[5] Lyons said he "strongly hit back at any notion" he had revealed the use of this facility but Sinn Féin Finance Minister John O'Dowd called for Lyons to consider his position, along with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Hilary Benn. The Green Party called for Lyons to resign.[15]

###### Motion of no confidence

[edit]

On 11 June 2025, the Leader of the Opposition Matthew O’Toole said that he will refer Lyons to the Assembly’s Standards Commissioner the next day. On 12 June, the 9-member Stormont Communities Committee voted no confidence in Lyons in a motion proposed by Maolíosa McHugh after the Committee Chair, Colm Gildernew, called for Lyons to consider his position.[5][16][17] The First Minister of Northern Ireland, Michelle O'Neill, called for Lyons to resign following the vote of no confidence.[18]

## Political views

[edit]

### Northern Ireland Protocol

[edit]

In 2021, Lyons encouraged the public to sign a DUP petition calling for Prime Minister Boris Johnson to trigger Article 16 of the NI Protocol.[19]

## Electoral history

[edit]

Election  | Constituency  | Votes  | %  | Elected  | Comment

|
|
|
|
|

Assembly 2011 | East Antrim | 1,321  | 4.55%  | Not elected  | 1st run; 9th of 13
Council 2011 | Coast Road | 344  | 10.40%  | Not elected  | 6th of 11
Council 2014 | 660 | 12.25% | Elected | 4th of 12
Assembly 2016 | East Antrim  | 3,472 | 10.71% | Elected | 2nd of 15
Assembly 2017 | 3,851 | 10.29% | Elected | 4th of 15
Assembly 2022 | 6,256 | 15.55% | Elected | 2nd of 10

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Gordon Lyons MLA". DUP. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
2. ^ Martin, Rachel (4 February 2021). "Who is Gordon Lyons – NI's new Agriculture Minister?". Agriland.co.uk. Retrieved 13 June 2025.
3. ^ "'Nothing is off the table', warns DUP grassroots as rift with leadership deepens". 16 June 2025. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 16 June 2025.
4. ^ "DUP's Gordon Lyons beaten by colleague Paul Frew in contest for party secretary role". 6 June 2025. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 13 June 2025.
5. ^ a b c "Communities committee 'expresses no confidence' in Gordon Lyons over Larne Leisure Centre social media post". BelfastTelegraph.co.uk. 12 June 2025. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
6. ^ Victoria Leonard, "Larne Councillor Lyons hopes to replace Sammy Wilson" Archived 20 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine, Larne Times, 4 August 2015.
7. ^ Larne Borough Council Elections 1993–2011, Northern Ireland Elections, ark.ac.uk; accessed 3 January 2017.
8. ^ "Mid and East Antrim District Council Elections, 2014", Northern Ireland Elections
9. ^ "Gordon Lyons to replace Sammy Wilson as East Antrim MLA", BBC News, 11 August 2015.
10. ^ "Edwin Poots steps down for 'surgery and recuperation'". BBC News. 2 February 2021 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
11. ^ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-57730303, 6 July 2021
12. ^ "Stormont: Michelle O'Neill makes history as nationalist first minister". 3 February 2024. Retrieved 22 May 2025.
13. ^ Black, Rebecca (18 February 2025). "'Historic day' for deaf community as Sign Language Bill moves step closer to law". Independent. Archived from the original on 23 February 2025. Retrieved 9 June 2025.
14. ^ "DUP's Gordon Lyons beaten by colleague Paul Frew in contest for party secretary role". 6 June 2025. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
15. ^ a b "Larne Leisure Centre: Gordon Lyons under pressure over facebook post". BBC News. 12 June 2025. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
16. ^ "Vote of no confidence in Minister Gordon Lyons from Assembly's Communities Committee".
17. ^ "Gordon Lyons' social media post about Larne Leisure Centre was reckless and inflammatory. I will be raising the Minister's post at the Communities Committee today".
18. ^ "First Minister joins calls for Gordon Lyons to resign over social media post as DUP leader slams 'malevolent bandwagon'". BelfastTelegraph.co.uk. 12 June 2025. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
19. ^ Martin, Rachel (4 February 2021). "Who is Gordon Lyons – NI's new Agriculture Minister?". Agriland.co.uk. Retrieved 13 June 2025.

Northern Ireland Assembly

Preceded by

Sammy Wilson

|  MLA for East Antrim
2015–present  | Incumbent

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Democratic Unionist Party

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|

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Elected representatives|

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Ireland Assembly|

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* Election results
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Executive Office of Northern Ireland

Headquarters: Stormont Castle

Department|

| First Minister|

| Party allocation|

* Designated Nationalist: Sinn Féin

|

First Minister|

* Michelle O'Neill

Junior Minister|

* Aisling Reilly

deputy First Minister|

| Party allocation|

* Designated Unionist: Democratic Unionist Party

|

deputy First Minister|

* Emma Little-Pengelly

Junior Minister|

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Northern Ireland Executive

Headquarters: Stormont Castle *2024 Northern Ireland Executive formation

Heads of government

| First Minister|

Michelle O'Neill

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deputy First Minister|

Emma Little-Pengelly

Departments

| Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs|

| Party allocation|

Alliance Party of Northern Ireland

|

Minister|

Andrew Muir

Communities|

| Party allocation|

Democratic Unionist Party

|

Minister|

Gordon Lyons

Economy|

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Sinn Féin

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Minister|

Caoimhe Archibald

Education|

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Democratic Unionist Party

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Paul Givan

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Sinn Féin

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John O'Dowd

Executive Office|

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Designated Nationalist: Sinn Féin

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Minister|

Michelle O'Neill

Junior Minister|

Aisling Reilly

deputy First Minister|

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Designated Unionist: Democratic Unionist Party

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Minister|

Emma Little-Pengelly

Junior Minister|

Pam Cameron

Health|

| Party allocation|

Ulster Unionist Party

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Minister|

Mike Nesbitt

Infrastructure|

| Party allocation|

Sinn Féin

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Minister|

Liz Kimmins

Justice|

| Party allocation|

Alliance Party of Northern Ireland

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Minister|

Naomi Long
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