Career
Before his election to the assembly, Stewart worked as the sales director of his family's business, Robinson's Shoemakers, which is based in Carrickfergus, County Antrim.[5]
Stewart serves in the Army Reserve (formally known as the Territorial Army).[3] He is a soldier of the North Irish Horse.[5]
Political career
Stewart joined the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) in 2008.[6] He was elected to Carrickfergus Borough Council in the 2011 local elections as a councillor for the Knockagh Monument electoral area.[7] In 2014, he was elected to the newly created Mid and East Antrim Borough Council for Carrick Castle.[8] He served as Deputy Mayor of Carrickfergus 2013–14.
On 2 March 2017, Stewart was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly for East Antrim in stage 9 of the count.[9] In the 2022 Assembly election he polled 6195 votes and was re-elected after the third count.
Stewart is the Ulster Unionist Party's Infrastructure spokesperson. In August 2023, he called for action to tackle MoT waiting lists and outlined that the UUP would reuse the Temporary Exemption Certificates, used at the height of the pandemic, "to allow backlogs to be cleared and fines to be appealed."[10]
On 24 August 2023, Stewart called for the Kilroot coal-powered power station to be kept open during the coming winter, this followed news that the gas turbines to replace coal would not be commissioned on time.[11]