Cllr Mark Robinson was 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...

 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...

 Member for Belfast South

Belfast South (Assembly constituency)

Belfast South 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...

. Elected in sixth place in 1998 he increased his vote in the 2003 election and was returned in second place.

A member and former Deputy Mayor of Castlereagh Borough Council, he was elected in 1997 and re-elected in 2001.

He has come under fire in the media for running up one of the highest travel expenses of any of the 108 MLAs, despite representing a constituency neighbouring that which Parliament Buildings

Parliament Buildings (Northern Ireland)

The Parliament Buildings, known as Stormont because of its location in the Stormont area of Belfast is the seat of the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Northern Ireland Executive...

 is in. He declared part-time employment with Marks and Spencer in the Register of Members' Interests in 2006 on top of his Assembly salary.