Patrick Brown (Northern Irish politician)
Patrick Brown | |
---|---|
Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for South Down | |
In office 7 May 2022 – 23 April 2024 | |
Preceded by | Sinéad Bradley |
Succeeded by | Andrew McMurray |
Member of Newry, Mourne and Down District Council | |
In office 22 May 2014 – 7 May 2022 | |
Preceded by | Council established |
Succeeded by | David Lee-Surginor |
Constituency | Rowallane |
Personal details | |
Nationality | Northern Irish |
Political party | Alliance |
Occupation | Politician |
Patrick Brown is a Northern Irish former politician who was an Alliance Party Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA). He was elected as an MLA in the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election for South Down before unexpectedly resigning in April 2024 whilst facing an investigation from a standards watchdog.[1][2][3]
Early life
Brown grew up in Crossgar and Downpatrick where he attended integrated schools, including Shimna Integrated College.[4] Brown went to University of Sheffield, where he received his bachelor's degree and master's degrees in political science and international development respectively.[5][4]
Upon his return to Northern Ireland, Brown started several small businesses, including a water and sanitation charity doing work in East Africa and a firm that supports social enterprises and other third sector organizations.[4]
Brown founded a political travel business, Politrip, in 2017 before selling the brand in 2021 to a new company set up by Politrip's then general manager to continue its operations - Volunteer USA Ltd. The business allowed young people to volunteer on election campaigns in the US.[6]
Brown was awarded his Ph.D. on Universal basic income and Conflict transformation at Queen's University Belfast[4] only weeks after his election in May 2022's Assembly elections in Northern Ireland.[7]
Political career
During his undergraduate studies, Brown did a two-week work placement in Naomi Long's office in Westminster.[5]
In 2014, Brown was one of the youngest people to be elected as a Councillor in Newry, Mourne and Down District Council. In March 2017, Brown was arrested for drink driving his motorbike.[8][9] His case was referred to the council's standards watchdog, who suspended Brown from his council duties for six months.[9] He was re-elected five years later in the 2019 local elections.[9][4][10]
Brown first ran for the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2016, achieving Alliances best result in the South Down constituency up to that date with 5.36% of the vote. In the 2017 Assembly elections Brown almost doubled his vote to 9.18%, narrowly missing the 5th seat.
Brown won 13.9% of the vote in the 2019 UK Parliamentary election in South Down, placing 4th overall with 6916 votes.[11]
In the 2022 Assembly election, Brown was the 3rd candidate elected in South Down, winning 6942 first preference votes. Notably, Brown became the first Alliance MLA for South Down, a largely Nationalist constituency.[12][7]
In November 2023, it was revealed that a bust political travel business founded by Brown owed thousands of pounds to students who would not get their money back after their trips were cancelled, and instead were offered "internship[s]" with the Alliance Party ahead of the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election campaign. The firm, Volunteer USA Ltd – trading as Politrip - went into liquidation in 2022 with debts of more than £64,000.[13]
Brown stood down as an MLA with immediate effect on 23 April 2024 due to "personal reasons" after 10 years as an elected representative.[14] It soon emerged that Brown had been facing an investigation from a standards watchdog, following a complaint made in 2023 about Brown's conduct towards Shimna Integrated College in Newcastle, County Down, and its board of governors.[15]
Electoral Record
Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | ||||
Sinn Féin | Sinéad Ennis | 26.17% | 14,381 | ||||||
Sinn Féin | Cathy Mason | 18.13% | 9,963 | ||||||
Alliance | Patrick Brown | 12.63% | 6,942 | 8,071 | 8,251 | 8,865 | 9,301 | ||
DUP | Diane Forsythe | 11.82% | 6,497 | 6,512 | 6,513 | 6,617 | 8,034 | 11,073 | |
SDLP | Colin McGrath | 11.07% | 6,082 | 7,748 | 8,164 | 8,798 | 8,933 | 9,119 | |
SDLP | Karen McKevitt | 5.47% | 3,006 | 4,772 | 4,875 | 5,090 | 5,139 | 5,259 | |
TUV | Harold McKee | 5.96% | 3,273 | 3,279 | 3,280 | 3,332 | 4,118 | ||
UUP | Jill Macauley | 5.24% | 2,880 | 2,900 | 2,902 | 2,944 | |||
Aontú | Rosemary McGlone | 2.14% | 1,177 | 1,439 | 1,488 | ||||
Green (NI) | Noeleen Lynch | 0.75% | 412 | 564 | 580 | ||||
People Before Profit | Paul McCrory | 0.37% | 205 | 270 | 283 | ||||
Independent | Patrick Clarke | 0.24% | 134 | 209 | 224 | ||||
Electorate: 84,046 Valid: 54,952 (65.38%) Spoilt: 679 Quota: 9,159 Turnout: 55,631 (66.19%) |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sinn Féin | Chris Hazzard | 16,137 | 32.4 | ―7.5 | |
SDLP | Michael Savage | 14,517 | 29.2 | ―5.9 | |
DUP | Glyn Hanna | 7,619 | 15.3 | ―2.1 | |
Alliance | Patrick Brown | 6,916 | 13.9 | +10.3 | |
UUP | Jill Macauley | 3,307 | 6.6 | +2.7 | |
Aontú | Paul Brady | 1,266 | 2.5 | New | |
Majority | 1,620 | 3.2 | ―1.6 | ||
Turnout | 49,762 | 62.9 | ―4.3 | ||
Registered electors | 79,113 | ||||
Sinn Féin hold | Swing | ―0.8 |
Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | ||||
Sinn Féin | Sinéad Ennis | 20.76% | 10,256 | |||||||
Sinn Féin | Chris Hazzard | 17.87% | 8,827 | |||||||
SDLP | Sinéad Bradley | 14.82% | 7,323 | 7,487 | 8,906.12 | |||||
DUP | Jim Wells | 15.76% | 7,786 | 8,088 | 8,091.36 | 8,091.64 | 10,821.64 | |||
SDLP | Colin McGrath | 10.34% | 5,110 | 5,202 | 5,512.8 | 6,043.68 | 6,632.42 | 7,228.42 | 7,613.62 | |
Alliance | Patrick Brown | 9.18% | 4,535 | 4,883 | 5,101.64 | 5,194.88 | 6,007.82 | 6,730.82 | 6,874.66 | |
UUP | Harold McKee | 8.45% | 4,172 | 4,509 | 4,522.44 | 4,527.76 | ||||
TUV | Lyle Rea | 1.28% | 630 | |||||||
Green (NI) | Hannah George | 0.98% | 483 | |||||||
Independent | Patrick Clarke | 0.39% | 192 | |||||||
NI Conservatives | Gary Hynds | 0.17% | 85 | |||||||
Electorate: 75,415 Valid: 49,399 (65.50%) Spoilt: 535 Quota: 8,234 Turnout: 49,932 (66.21%) |
Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | ||||
DUP | Jim Wells | 12.25% | 5,033 | 5,183 | 6,470 | ||||||
UUP | Harold McKee | 8.47% | 3,481 | 3,812 | 5,168 | 5,567 | 6,141 | ||||
Sinn Féin | Chris Hazzard | 12.28% | 5,045 | 5,142 | 5,144 | 5,321 | 5,321.5 | 7,277.5 | |||
SDLP | Sinéad Bradley | 12.32% | 5,059 | 5,231 | 5,241 | 5,828 | 5,834 | 6,144 | |||
Sinn Féin | Caitríona Ruane | 10.20% | 4,191 | 4,240 | 4,244 | 4,335 | 4,335 | 5,415 | 6,664.5 | ||
SDLP | Colin McGrath | 10.44% | 4,288 | 4,429 | 4,440 | 5,033 | 5,038 | 5,121 | 5,190 | 5,397 | |
SDLP | Seán Rogers | 8.68% | 3,564 | 3,699 | 3,721 | 4,076 | 4,086.5 | 4,227.5 | 4,309 | 4,595.75 | |
Sinn Féin | Michael Gray-Sloan | 8.57% | 3,520 | 3,571 | 3,572 | 3,665 | 3,665 | ||||
Alliance | Patrick Brown | 5.36% | 2,200 | 2,841 | 2,869 | ||||||
TUV | Henry Reilly | 6.62% | 2,718 | 2,800 | |||||||
Independent | John McCallister | 2.81% | 1,156 | ||||||||
Green (NI) | John Hardy | 2.00% | 820 | ||||||||
Electorate: 77,409 Valid: 41,075 (53.06%) Spoilt: 570 Quota: 5,868 Turnout: 41,645 (53.80%) |
References
- ^ "South Down result - Northern Ireland Assembly Elections 2022". BBC News. Archived from the original on 6 May 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
- ^ "Alliance MLA Patrick Brown resigns South Down seat". BBC News. 23 April 2024. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
- ^ "Patrick Brown: Alliance MLA who quit was facing standards investigation". BBC News. 25 April 2024. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
- ^ a b c d e "Your Candidate in South Down is". Alliance Party v2. Alliance Party of Northern Ireland. Archived from the original on 8 May 2022. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
- ^ a b "Register" – via linkedin.
- ^ "Students lose money as company founded by Alliance Party MLA goes bust". BelfastTelegraph.co.uk. 14 November 2023. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
- ^ a b "South Down: History in the making as Diane Forsthye becomes area's first female unionist MLA and Alliance's Patrick Brown gets elected". belfasttelegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on 10 May 2022. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
- ^ "Alliance selects Patrick Brown as Assembly candidate for South Down". The Irish News. 20 April 2021. Archived from the original on 19 June 2021. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
- ^ a b c "Alliance man faces watchdog probe over post about council recruitment". May 2022. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
- ^ "Patrick Brown for South Down in the Northern Ireland Assembly elections". Who Can I Vote For? by Democracy Club. Archived from the original on 13 May 2021. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
- ^ "2019 general election results - South Down". UK Parliament. Archived from the original on 12 June 2022. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
- ^ "South Down result - Northern Ireland Assembly Elections 2022". BBC News. Archived from the original on 6 May 2022. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
- ^ "Students lose money as company founded by Alliance Party MLA goes bust". BelfastTelegraph.co.uk. 14 November 2023. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
- ^ "Alliance MLA Patrick Brown resigns South Down seat". BBC News. 23 April 2024. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
- ^ "Patrick Brown: Alliance MLA who quit was facing standards investigation". BBC News. 25 April 2024. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
- ^ "Statement of Persons Nominated – South Down". Archived from the original on 8 April 2022. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
- ^ "South Down Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Archived from the original on 8 January 2020. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
- ^ "NI Assembly Election 2017". EONI. Archived from the original on 19 August 2021. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
- ^ "NI Assembly Election 2016". EONI. Archived from the original on 19 August 2021. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
External links
- Patrick Brown on X