Paul Butler (politician)

In 1974 (aged 17) Butler confessed to, and was convicted of, the murder of 50-year-old reserve Royal Ulster Constabulary officer John Rodgers. Rogers was murdered in an IRA gun attack near the Glen Inn in Glengormley. Butler was given a life sentence, for which he spent 15 years in jail.^[4][5]

Paul Butler is the leader of the Sinn Féin group on the Lisburn City Council. The party currently holds four seats on the council, making it the third party and the largest nationalist party.Butler has a served as a Councillor for Lisburn City Council since 1997 and is a member of their Strategic Policy, Planning and Finance Committees.^[6][7] Butler claims he campaigns against discrimination on the council, culminating in the Irish Government sending a representative to witness council proceedings. Nationalists claim that the unionist majority on the council has prevented nationalists from taking council positions. Butler campaigned for the town to gain city status which was bestowed on the city by the British Monarch.^{[citation needed]}

Butler stood in the UK general elections in 2001 and 2005 in the Lagan Valley constituency but was not elected.^[8]

In October 2023, he called on the Social Democratic and Labour Party to not stand a candidate in Lagan Valley in the 2024 general election.^[9]

Butler announced that he will not contest the May Assembly elections after only one term as an MLA. "I am standing down," confirmed Butler. "The Party's position on this is that anyone who is a councillor and an MLA should only have one job."^[10]

• Patricia Lewsley was appointed as Children's Commissioner and was replaced as an MLA by Marietta Farrell

Butler became the first Sinn Féin member for Lagan Valley in the Northern Irish Assembly. He won the SDLP seat previously held by Patricia Lewsley and subsequently Marietta Farrell. Butler was the only nationalist elected in the six-seater constituency.