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Alliance MLA Andrew McMurray will stand in the 2027 Assembly election as the party's South Down candidate. He has served the area since April 2024 as an Alliance MLA and says there is still more to do.
Mr McMurray said: "South Down is such a special place, and in 2022 this constituency made history by electing their first ever progressive, cross-community Alliance MLA. So much work has been done since then, but there's much still to do, and I'd love the opportunity to continue working for everyone to make South Down the best possible place to live and work."
He said he is proud to call the area home and described how he came to settle there. "I'm immensely proud to call South Down my home. It was the hills, the crags, the forest, the rivers and the sea that drew me here, it was a career as an outdoor instructor which kept me here, and it is where I've chosen to put down roots and raise my family. It's been the honour of my life to get to serve the area as an Alliance MLA."
Mr McMurray believes practical issues such as health, education, the economy and the environment too often fall by the wayside in favour of re-fighting old battles and divisive culture wars. He describes the approach he favours as a politics of respect that looks towards the future and builds a shared society based on hopes rather than fears.
He said: "The politics I'm interested in places those critical issues at the top of the agenda."
Looking ahead to the election, he added: "Together, next May, we can choose hope, not fear, fix our broken politics, and keep building a brighter, shared future for all of us."
