Naomi Long
| Naomi Long MLA | |
|---|---|
.JPG) | |
| Leader of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland | |
|
Assumed office 26 October 2016 | |
| Preceded by | David Ford |
| Member of Parliament for Belfast East | |
|
In office 6 May 2010 – 30 March 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Peter Robinson |
| Succeeded by | Gavin Robinson |
| Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Belfast East | |
|
Assumed office 6 May 2016 | |
| Preceded by | Judith Cochrane |
|
In office 26 November 2003 – 5 July 2010 | |
| Preceded by | John Alderdice |
| Succeeded by | Chris Lyttle |
| 54th Lord Mayor of Belfast | |
|
In office June 2009 – June 2010 | |
| Preceded by | Tom Hartley |
| Succeeded by | Pat Convery |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Naomi Rachel Johnston 13 December 1971 Belfast, Northern Ireland |
| Political party | Alliance |
| Spouse(s) | Michael Long |
| Alma mater | Queen's University Belfast |
| Profession | Engineer |
| Religion | Presbyterian |
| Website | Naomi Long's Website |
Naomi Rachel Long (née Johnston; born 13 December 1971) is a Northern Irish politician. She is a member of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland, currently its leader. She represented Belfast East in the United Kingdom House of Commons from 2010 to 2015, and previously represented the same constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly. She served as the second elected female Lord Mayor of Belfast from 2009 to 2010.
Background
Born in East Belfast, she attended Mersey Street Primary and Bloomfield Collegiate School. She graduated from Queen's University of Belfast with a degree in civil engineering in 1994, worked in a structural engineering consultancy for two years, held a research and training post at Queen's University for three years, and then went back into consultancy (environmental and hydraulic engineering) for four years. She is married to Michael Long, an Alliance councillor on Belfast City Council, and is a member of Bloomfield Presbyterian Church.[1][2]
Political career
She first took political office in 2001 when she was elected to Belfast City Council for the Victoria ward. In 2003 Long was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly for Belfast East, succeeding her fellow party member John Alderdice. In 2006 she was named deputy leader of her party. In 2007 she more than doubled the party's vote in the constituency, being placed second ahead of the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party. The overall UUP vote, however, was 22%. At 18.8%, her vote share was higher than that for Alderdice in 1998.
On 1 June 2009 she was elected as Lord Mayor of Belfast, defeating William Humphrey (Democratic Unionist Party) by 26 votes to 24 in a vote at a council meeting. She became the second woman to hold the post, after Grace Bannister (1981–82).[3]
On 6 May 2010 she defeated Peter Robinson, First Minister of Northern Ireland and leader of the DUP, to become Member of Parliament (MP) for Belfast East in the House of Commons.[4] She became the first MP elected to Westminster for the Alliance Party (previously, Stratton Mills, a former Ulster Unionist Party MP, had changed parties to Alliance). Long also became the first Liberal-affiliated MP elected to Westminster in Northern Ireland since James Brown Dougherty in Londonderry City in 1914. Despite the close relationship between the Alliance Party and the Liberal Democrats, Long did not sit with the coalition government nor take the coalition whip[5] and was not a member of the Liberal Democrats.[6]
On 10 December 2012, Long received a number of death threats and a petrol bomb was thrown inside an unmarked police car guarding her constituency office. This violence erupted as a reaction by Ulster loyalists to the decision by Alliance Party members of Belfast City Council to vote in favour of restricting the flying of the Union flag at Belfast City Hall to 17 specific days throughout the year.[7]
In 2015 Long lost her seat in the Commons to Gavin Robinson of the DUP, as a result of a five-party unionist pact in the constituency which saw the UUP, UKIP, TUV and PUP all stand aside in favour of Robinson.[8]
On 26 October 2016, Long was elected Alliance leader.[9]
References
- ↑ Official biography
- ↑ Alliance profile of Long
- ↑ "Naomi Long elected Belfast Mayor", UTV News
- ↑ "Naomi Long beats Peter Robinson to win in East Belfast"
- ↑ "Alliance must clarify precise relationship with LibDems" by Ian James Parsley, 12 December 2010. Accessed 16 December 2010
- ↑ No, I do not regret receiving the...: 9 Dec 2010: House of Commons debates – TheyWorkForYou
- ↑ McDonald, Henry (10 December 2012). "MP's office attacked in Northern Ireland". The Guardian. London.
- ↑ http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/aeb.htm
- ↑ https://www.allianceparty.org/article/2016/0010725/naomi-long-elected-as-new-leader-of-alliance
External links
- http://allianceparty.org/contact/belfast-east-naomi-long-mp
- Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
- Voting record at Public Whip
- Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou
Offices held
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Peter Robinson |
Member of Parliament for Belfast East 2010–2015 |
Succeeded by Gavin Robinson |
| Northern Ireland Assembly | ||
| Preceded by John Alderdice |
MLA for Belfast East 2003–2010 |
Succeeded by Chris Lyttle |
| Preceded by Judith Cochrane |
MLA for Belfast East 2016-present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by Eileen Bell |
Deputy Leader of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland 2006–present |
Incumbent |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Tom Hartley |
Lord Mayor of Belfast 2009–2010 |
Succeeded by Pat Convery |