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Simon Hamilton
Simon Hamilton (born 17 March 1977) is a Northern Irish businessman, consultant and former Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician. Hamilton served as the Economy Minister in the Northern Ireland Executive from 2016, until its collapse in January 2017.[2][3] He was a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Strangford from 2007 to 2019. EducationHamilton was educated at Regent House School and Queen's University, Belfast holding degrees in history/politics and law.[4] He served as Chairman of the Queen's Unionist Association and as a member of Queen's University Senate. CareerHamilton began his career as an auditor with an accountancy firm in Belfast[4] and was employed as a DUP Policy Officer in their Party Headquarters from 2003 until his election to the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2007.[5] He was elected to Ards Borough Council in 2005 but did not stand at the 2011 Election. Hamilton was secretary of Strangford DUP Association and vice-chairman of Newtownards DUP Branch. He was appointed minister of finance and personnel and replaced Sammy Wilson on 29 June 2013 in a reshuffle.[5][6] He was later appointed as the Health Minister of Northern Ireland in a further DUP reshuffle on 11 May 2015.[7] He resigned from this post several times during September and October 2015 in the context of a political crisis at Stormont.[2][8] In June 2019, Hamilton announced he was standing down from front line politics to become CEO of Belfast Chamber of Commerce. He also resigned from the DUP to take this role.[9] References
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