In 1998, he was elected as MLA to the Northern Ireland Assembly, and re-elected in 2003.[2]
He was a member of a country and western music band and was known to wear cowboy boots in the 1998–2003 Assembly.[3]
He was an outgoing candidate in the 2007 Assembly elections, but lost his seat. His brother, Ross Hussey, re-took the UUP seat in 2011.
He also has a special interest in regional development, Ulster-Scots and the Orange Order. Hussey continued his role in local politics, and was re-elected as the only UUP Councillor on Strabane District Council in 2011. Hussey was later elected onto the newly-formed Derry and Strabane District Council in the 2014 local elections, still representing Derg, and was re-elected at the 2019 and 2023 elections.
Convictions
Derek Hussey has been convicted of driving with excess alcohol on three occasions, most recently in March 2016.[4]
Following the most recent conviction in March 2016, Alderman Hussey was suspended by the Ulster Unionist Party[7] On completion of community service the suspension was lifted and he still sits as an Ulster Unionist member of Derry City and Strabane District Council.
Security Forces
The Hussey family have a strong connection with the security forces with Hussey himself serving as a part-time Special Constable with the Ulster Special Constabulary (USC), his late father Sydney Robert Hussey had served in the Royal Navy during World War II and the USC and Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) until his death. His mother served in the Women's Royal Naval Service and the UDR, his brother Harold William was a sergeant in the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), his sister was in the UDR and Royal Irish Regiment and his politician brother Ross also served as a part-time member of the RUC.
