Paul Rankin is a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician, serving as an Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Councillor for the Lagan River DEA since 2014[1] .
He was briefly a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Lagan Valley in March 2022, having replaced former party leader, Edwin Poots.
Rankin was elected onto the successor Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council at the 2014 local elections, representing the Lagan River District; he was re-elected in 2019.
He was co-opted to the Northern Ireland Assembly for Lagan Valley, on 14 March 2022, after Edwin Poots switched to South Belfast, following the sudden death of Christopher Stalford in February 2022.
[2] Rankin was only an MLA for two weeks after being co-opted, as the Assembly was dissolved at the end of March ahead of the May Assembly election,[2] for which he was not selected as a DUP candidate in Lagan Valley.