Ivan Davis is a Unionist politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

 in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

.

Born in Lisburn

Lisburn

DemographicsLisburn Urban Area is within Belfast Metropolitan Urban Area and is classified as a Large Town by the . On census day there were 71,465 people living in Lisburn...

, Davis was elected to Lisburn Borough Council in 1973, representing the Democratic Unionist Party

Democratic Unionist Party

The Democratic Unionist Party is the larger of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland. Founded by Ian Paisley and currently led by Peter Robinson, it is currently the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly and the fourth-largest party in the House of Commons of the...

 (DUP). He was also elected to represent South Antrim

South Antrim (Assembly constituency)

South Antrim is a constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly.The seat was first used for a Northern Ireland-only election for the Northern Ireland Assembly, 1973...

 at the Northern Ireland Assembly election, 1982.

In 1987, Davis resigned from the DUP and instead joined the Ulster Unionist Party

Ulster Unionist Party

The Ulster Unionist Party – sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or, in a historic sense, simply the Unionist Party – is the more moderate of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland...

 (UUP). Under this new party label, he served as Mayor of Lisburn from 1991 - 93. He was also elected for Lagan Valley

Lagan Valley (Assembly constituency)

Lagan Valley is a constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly.The seat was first used for a Northern Ireland-only election for the Northern Ireland Forum in 1996. Since 1998, it has elected members to the current Assembly....

 at the Northern Ireland Forum

Northern Ireland Forum

The Northern Ireland Forum was a body set up in 1996 as part of a process of negotiations that eventually led to the Belfast Agreement in 1998....

 election in 1996 (with Jeffrey Donaldson

Jeffrey Donaldson

Jeffrey Mark Donaldson, MP is a Northern Irish politician and Member of Parliament for Lagan Valley belonging to the Democratic Unionist Party...

 and David Campbell), and narrowly held this seat at the Northern Ireland Assembly election, 1998

Northern Ireland Assembly election, 1998

-Seats summary:-Details:Although the SDLP won the most first preference votes, the Ulster Unionists won the most seats in the Assembly. This has been attributed to several reasons, including:...

. During the course of the Assembly he became UUP chief whip.

Lagan Valley UUP controversially did not select Davis as a candidate for the Northern Ireland Assembly election, 2003

Northern Ireland Assembly election, 2003

The second elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly, which at the time of the elections had been suspended for just over a year, were held on Wednesday 26 November 2003. Six members were elected by Single Transferable Vote from each of Northern Ireland's eighteen Westminster Parliamentary...

, so he resigned and stood instead as an independent Unionist

Independent Unionist

See also Independent .Independent Unionist has been a label sometimes used by candidates in elections in the United Kingdom, indicating a support for Unionism, retaining the unity of the British state....

. He received 2,223 first-preference votes, but this did not prove sufficient to see him elected despite polling more first preferences than one successful candidate.

Despite this, Davis continues to sit as a UUP member, and leader of the UUP group, on Lisburn City Council.