Gavin Robinson was first elected the DUP MP for Belfast East in 2015, and was reelected by a majority of 1,819 in 2019.
The constituency of Belfast East spreads out from near the centre of Belfast to include some areas of Castlereagh. This seat includes Belfast’s shipyards and the giant cranes at Harland and Wolff. It is a strongly unionist part of Northern Ireland in which the national parties poll little more than a tenth of the vote. Instead the electoral battles here are fought between the DUP and the Alliance Party.
Although the former DUP leader, Peter Robinson, held this seat between 1979 and 2010, the Alliance Party had polled close to a third of the vote in the past, and eventually held the seat between 2010 and 2015. The DUP regained it in 2015, but it remains highly marginal between the two parties.
Born in 1985, Gavin Robinson studied at Queen’s University Belfast. Before starting practicing as a barrister, he read Law and attained a Masters in Irish Politics. He then acted as a Special Advisor to Peter Robinson during his time as Northern Ireland’s First Minister between 2010 and 2015.
Gavin Robinson was elected as a Councillor on Belfast City Council from 2011 to 2015. He served as a Lord Mayor of Belfast from 2012 to 2013.
In November 2021, Mr Robinson had emergency spinal surgery.
Despite his surname, he is not related to the former DUP Leader and Belfast East MP, Peter Robinson.
Robinson supported Brexit in the 2016 EU referendum.
Gavin Robinson is Vice Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Groups on Dyning Well; Funerals and Bereavement; Shipbuilding and Ship Repair; Zoos and Aquariums; the Pitcairn Islands; Aerospace; and the Armed Forces Covenant. He is Deputy Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on the Isle of Man.
Email: gavin.robinson.mp@parliament.uk
Personal Website: http://www.mydup.com/who-we-are/gavin-robinson
Westminster Address: House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA
Twitter: @GRobinsonDUP
