Roger Hutchinson is a former 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...

.

After attending Larne Technical College, Hutchinson became a religious minister. He also joined the Orange Order. He moved into business in 1990.

Hutchinson was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly

Northern Ireland Assembly

The Northern Ireland Assembly is the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and to appoint the Northern Ireland Executive...

 in 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:...

 for the UK Unionist Party

UK Unionist Party

The UK Unionist Party was a small unionist political party operating in Northern Ireland from 1995 to 2008. It was nominally formed by Robert McCartney, formerly of the Ulster Unionist Party, to contest a by-election the North Down by-election, 1995 and then further constituted to contest the 1996...

 (UKUP) in East Antrim

East Antrim (Assembly constituency)

East Antrim 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....

. With three of the other four UKUP members in the Assembly, he left in January 1999, disagreeing with leader Robert McCartney

Robert McCartney (politician)

Robert Law McCartney QC is a Northern Ireland barrister and former leader of the UK Unionist Party.He was initially a member of the Ulster Unionist Party but was expelled in June 1987 when he refused to withdraw from the general election of that year...

's policy of resigning from the Assembly should Sinn Féin

Sinn Féin

Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...

 become part of the power sharing executive. They formed the Northern Ireland Unionist Party

Northern Ireland Unionist Party

The Northern Ireland Unionist Party was a small political party in Northern Ireland. It was formed in January 1999 as a splinter party from the UK Unionist Party . This split was caused by disagreement between the five UKUP members of the Northern Ireland Assembly...

 (NIUP).

At the end of 1999, Hutchinson was expelled from the NIUP for accepting seats on two statutory committees, against party policy. He then sat 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....

. In November 2000, he joined 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), and he was elected to Newtownabbey Borough Council

Newtownabbey Borough Council

Newtownabbey Borough Council is a Local Council in County Antrim in Northern Ireland. Newtownabbey has a population of over 80,000 and is on the north shore of Belfast Lough just immediately north of Belfast. The Borough was founded in 1958 as a result of an Act of Parliament passed in 1957 and...

 for the DUP in 2001

Northern Ireland local elections, 2001

Elections for local government were held in Northern Ireland on 7 June 2001 along with the 2001 general election across the entire United Kingdom.-Overall:-Belfast:-References:...

. He officially became part of the DUP Assembly group in April 2002. However, he resigned from the DUP before 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...

, in which he stood in East Antrim as an independent

Independent (politician)

In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...

, failing to be elected.

Hutchinson did not restand for his council seat in 2005

Northern Ireland local elections, 2005

Elections for local government were held in Northern Ireland on 5 May 2005 along with the 2005 general election across the entire United Kingdom and local elections in England.-Results:-Belfast:-Derry:...

. In January 2007 at Belfast Crown Court, he denied sexually assaulting a female council employee.