LESLIE CREE MLA (UUP)

Leslie Cree was born in July 1941 in Bangor Co. Down.  He is married and has two sons and three grandchildren.  He was Deputy Mayor and Mayor of North Down between 1990 and 1992.  His interests include economic affairs, policy and economic, cultural and educational links with the USA.   Leslie was awarded MBE for community service in 2001.  Leslie was first elected as an MLA in 2003 when he surprisingly topped the poll.  In 2007 he was re-elected on the tenth count with a reduced share of the vote. Cree is a member of the Enterprise, Trade and Investment Committee in the Assembly. He is Party Spokesperson for Enterprise, Trade and Investment, Tourism and Consumer Affairs.

ALEX EASTON MLA (DUP)

Alex Easton was educated at Bangor Technical College.  He worked for fourteen years in the local Health Service and in the Ulster Hospital as a Higher Clerical Officer.  He joined the DUP in 2001 and was elected to North Down Council in the same year. He currently sits on the Corporate, Economic Development, Planning and Leisure and Tourism Committees.  Alex is a member of the Orange Order.  Alex was first elected to the Assembly in 2003 and in 2007 he topped the poll in North Down as the only candidate to be elected on the first count. Easton is a member of the Health, Social Services and Public Safety Committee and the Committee on Standards and Privileges in the Assembly.

STEPHEN FARRY MLA (ALL)

Stephen Farry is the General Secretary of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland. He was elected to the Assembly in the 2007 election for North Down, having first been elected to North Down Borough Council in 1993.  He has served as the borough's Deputy Mayor from 2002-2003 and was elected Mayor in 2007.  Farry was educated at Queen's University, Belfast where he obtained a First Class Degree in Politics and a PhD in International Relations.  In 2005, he was appointed an International Peace Scholar by the US Institute of Peace.  Farry is Party Spokesperson on Finance and Personnel and Justice and Human Rights. Stephen is a member of the Finance and Personnel Committee and the Audit Committee in the Assembly.

ALAN McFARLAND MLA (UUP)

Alan McFarland was born in 1949 and was educated at Campbell College and the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst. He is married to Celia with one son and two daughters. He is a former Major in the Royal Tank Regiment and served as Parliamentary Assistant to both Martin Smyth MP and James Molyneaux MP.  He was Director of the Somme Heritage Centre from 1996-1998. McFarland was a Policing Board Member from 2001-2006.  In 2005 he came a close second to Reg Empey in the leadership contest for the UUP.  He is the Ulster Unionist Party’s Chief Negotiator.  Alan was first elected as an MLA in 1998 and was comfortably re-elected in 2003.  In 2007 however his share of the vote fell, but after a tense wait he was eventually returned for a third term on the tenth count. McFarland is a member of the Assembly and Executive Review Committee and the Enterprise, Trade and Investment Committee in the Assembly.

BRIAN WILSON (GREEN)

Born in May 1943, Brian Wilson, was one of the stories of the 2007 Assembly Election when he became the first Green Party member to be elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly, representing North Down.  A local councillor for the Alliance Party on North Down Borough Council from 1981 to 1997, Wilson then sat as an independent councillor and unsuccessfully contested North Down at the Northern Ireland Assembly Election in 2003.  Brian joined the Green Party in March 2005 and is currently Chair of the Green Party in Northern Ireland.  He is a former politics lecturer and a member of Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth. He is married to Anne Wilson, an Alliance Party councillor, and has four children. Wilson is a member of the Regional Development Committee and the Committee on Standards and Privileges in the Assembly.

PETER WEIR MLA (DUP)

Peter Weir was born in 1968 and was educated at Queen's University Belfast and later became a barrister. He was expelled from the Ulster Unionist Party in November 2001 and then joined the DUP in April 2002, retaking his MLA seat under new (DUP) colours in November 2003.  Peter was a member of the Finance and Personnel Committee in the 1998-2003 Assembly and his interests included education and law and order.     He unsuccessfully attempted to unseat UUP MP Lady Sylvia Hermon in the 2005 Westminster Election falling short by some 5,000 votes.  In 2007 Peter was re-elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly behind party colleague Alex Easton MLA. Weir is a member of the Environment Committee, the Business Committee and the Finance and Personnel Committee in the Assembly. Peter is a member of the Northern Ireland Policing Board and Party Spokesperson for the Environment.