Newtownabbey Council Girvan was first elected to
Newtownabbey Borough Council in
1997, representing the
Ballyclare District, and was re-elected in
2001,
2005 and
2011. From 2002 to 2004, he served as Mayor of Newtownabbey, and also served as chair of the council's Development Committee.
NI Assembly In
2003, he was elected to the
Northern Ireland Assembly, representing
South Antrim. He was deselected by the DUP in South Antrim in 2007, but returned to the Assembly in 2010 when he was selected to replace
William McCrea following his resignation.
Member of Parliament In the
2017 general election, he contested
South Antrim, winning the seat with a 3,208 majority, against the incumbent MP,
Danny Kinahan of the
Ulster Unionist Party (UUP). In March 2019, Girvan was one of 21 MPs who voted against LGBT inclusive sex and relationship education in English schools. He retained his seat at the
2019 general election, though did see his vote decline by 3%, with a majority of 2,689. In July 2020, during a trade debate in the
House of Commons, Girvan caused controversy when he said that food in shops must be affordable "for the housewife to buy." He immediately apologised for the remark. At the
2024 general election, Girvan lost his seat to the UUP's
Robin Swann, which saw his vote decline by 15.7%. He is now retired. ==Personal life==