Northern Ireland

Profile: Christopher Stalford was foremost a dedicated husband and father

One of Christopher Stalford's public appearances was as part of last week's Spotlight Special panel on BBC NI
One of Christopher Stalford's public appearances was as part of last week's Spotlight Special panel on BBC NI One of Christopher Stalford's public appearances was as part of last week's Spotlight Special panel on BBC NI

CHRISTOPHER Stalford's public persona was that of a committed and often uncompromising unionist politician but first and foremost the South Belfast MLA was a dedicated husband and father.

Born in Annadale Flats in the 1980s, he was just seven years old when his father Clifford (26) died of a brain bleed, leaving his shop assistant mother Karen to look after the young Christopher and sister Angela. His mother later married Eric, a painter and decorator, and the couple had two further children, Erica and Glen. In 2017, the DUP MLA described his stepfather as a "very good person and a hard worker".

As a child he attended Ulidia Primary School and later Nettlefield Primary School, before going to Wellington College. He remembered his childhood as revolving "very much around the church, Boys Brigade and choir".

Proud of his working class roots, he attended Queen's University where he studied politics and history. Interested in politics since he was a teenager, Mr Stalford joined the DUP in his early 20s and after graduating worked in the office of then MEP Jim Allister and also in Peter Weir's Bangor office.

He moved to the party's press office, then to its policy unit and in 2005 was elected to Belfast City Council aged 22, the youngest person on the council.

Mr Stalford ran unsuccessfully for the assembly in 2007 but was elected to Stormont in 2016, having served for more than a decade as a councillor, including a year as deputy lord mayor.

In 2018, he accompanied the then DUP leader Arlene Foster to Ulster Football Final between Donegal and Fermanagh in Co Monaghan.

Following the restoration of the Stormont institutions in 2020, he was appointed principal deputy speaker of the assembly.

The South Belfast representative was one of his party's first MLAs to publicly declare his support for Edwin Poots' leadership bid last year.

He had been a close ally of former leader Arlene Foster before she was forced out of the top job, and said at the time that he hoped they could remain friends.

Earlier this year, Mr Stalford said he quit Twitter because the platform was "awful".

He said the constant abuse and hatred was unhealthy.

In 2017, he faced criticism for failing to acknowledge that an Eleventh Night bonfire at Sandy Row was built too close to apartments.

The bonfire damaged the homes of Belfast residents, cracking windows at the Victoria Place apartments.

Speaking during an interview in 2018, Mr Stalford said he would "never leave or be pushed out" if a united Ireland happened.

He described Northern Ireland as his home, and said his family have lived in the province for hundreds of years.

One of his final public appearances was as part of last week's Spotlight Special panel on BBC NI.

Christopher Stalford is survived by his wife Laura and children Trinity, Oliver, Cameron and Abigail.