Jim Shannon is the DUP Member of Parliament for Strangford, the DUP spokesman on Health and Human Rights, a member of the Northern Ireland Affairs Select Committee, and an Officer of the APPCOG.

Previously, Jim was elected to Ards Borough Council in 1985 and served as Mayor in 1991/92.

He was elected as a member of the Northern Ireland Forum for Political Dialogue in 1996 until it completed its work in 1998. He was then subsequently elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly representing Strangford.

Jim was first elected to Parliament at the General Election of 2010 where he received nearly 15,000 votes.