Diane Jean Dodds, Baroness Dodds of Duncairn, (born 16 August 1958), is a

Democratic Unionist Party The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a unionist, loyalist, and national conservative political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1971 during the Troubles by Ian Paisley, who led the party for the next 37 years. Currently led by J ...

(DUP) politician in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...

. She served as a

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

(MEP) for the Northern Ireland constituency from 2009 to 2020. She previously sat in the

Northern Ireland Assembly sco-ulster, Norlin Airlan Assemblie , legislature = Seventh Assembly , coa_pic = File:NI_Assembly.svg , coa_res = 250px , house_type = Unicameral , house1 = , leader1_type = S ...

from 2003 to 2007 as MLA for

West Belfast Belfast West can refer to: *The western part of Belfast. *Belfast West (Assembly constituency) * Belfast West (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency) *Belfast West (UK Parliament constituency) Belfast West is a parliamentary constituency ( ...

. In 2020, Dodds returned to the Assembly as MLA for Upper Bann.

Early life

Dodds was born into a farming family in

Rathfriland Rathfriland () is a market town in County Down, Northern Ireland. History In older documents written in English, the town's name was usually spelt ''Rathfylan'' or ''Rathfrilan''.

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to th ...

, where she attended

Banbridge Academy Banbridge Academy is a grammar school in Banbridge, Northern Ireland, founded in 1786. the Principal is Robin McLoughlin, previously a headmaster of Grosvenor Grammar School. Mr McLoughlin succeeded Mr Raymond Pollock (1995-2014). Former head ...

before moving on to study at

Queen's University Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

. While studying, she met her future husband and future DUP MP for North Belfast,

Nigel Dodds Nigel Alexander Dodds, Baron Dodds of Duncairn, (born 20 August 1958), is a British unionist politician who has been the Leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in the House of Lords since 2021, and was the deputy leader of the DU ...

Political career

In 2003, Dodds was elected to the

to represent Belfast West. She was the first Unionist elected to a regional assembly from West Belfast in more than 20 years (the last being Thomas Passmore to the 1982-86 Assembly). Her strongest support base during the election campaign was in the

Shankill Road The Shankill Road () is one of the main roads leading through West Belfast, in Northern Ireland. It runs through the working-class, predominantly loyalist, area known as the Shankill. The road stretches westwards for about from central Belfast ...

area of the constituency. Following her election to the Assembly, Dodds contested the Court District Electoral Area in the 2005 Local Government Elections. On that occasion she polled in excess of three electoral quotas and her surplus votes enabled the election of two running mates. In that election, she polled more votes than any other local government candidate in Northern Ireland. Despite increasing her vote from the 2003 Assembly election, she narrowly lost her seat to

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gr ...

in 2007. Dodds has also been active within

Belfast City Council Belfast City Council ( ga, Comhairle Cathrach Bhéal Feirste) is the local authority with responsibility for part of the city of Belfast, the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland. The Council serves an estimated population of (), the ...

, where she was

Chief Whip The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes. United Kingdom ...

of the 14-councillor DUP group. She chaired the Policy and Resources Committee on the council and actively supported a campaign to host a homecoming parade for the Royal Irish Regiment and other armed forces returning home from the

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...

wars.

European Parliament 2009-2020

On 3 February 2009, Dodds was selected by the DUP as its candidate for the 2009 election to the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the Legislature, legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven Institutions of the European Union, institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and in ...

and was elected an MEP on 8 June, representing

. Despite her election, the results were disappointing for Dodds and her party. The DUP's share of the vote fell 14% to just over 18%. While the Westminster expenses scandal and a perceived poor performance in live debates were cited as reasons for the poor result, Dodds herself blamed the decline in DUP votes on former DUP member

Jim Allister James Hugh Allister (born 2 April 1953) is a British Unionist politician and barrister in Northern Ireland. He founded the Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) political party in 2007, leading the party since its formation. Allister has served ...

of the Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) splinter party, who gained 66,000 first preference votes. Allister had accused the DUP of "betrayal" in going into government with

. Sinn Féin topped the poll, the first time a republican party had done so in a European election in Northern Ireland. Dodds was elected third, behind Jim Nicholson of the UUP, and with fewer votes than the quota (the elections being held under the

single transferable vote Single transferable vote (STV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which voters cast a single vote in the form of a ranked-choice ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vote may be transferred according to alternate p ...

system). In September 2018, Dodds voted against a motion asserting the "existence of a clear risk of a serious breach by Hungary of the values on which the Union is founded" - in line with most UKIP and Conservative Party MEPs.

Member of the Local Assembly 2020-present

The DUP announced that following Carla Lockhart's election to the House of Commons in December 2019, Dodds would succeed her as MLA for Upper Bann. In January 2020, Dodds was elected to the position of MLA for Upper Bann. She took on the MLA role full-time after the UK left the European Union (EU) on 31 January 2020.

References

External links

DUP profile - Diane DoddsBelfast City Council - Diane Dodds
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dodds, Diane 1958 births Living people People educated at Banbridge Academy Alumni of Queen's University Belfast Dodds of Duncairn Democratic Unionist Party MLAs Members of Belfast City Council Northern Ireland MLAs 2003–2007 Female members of the Northern Ireland Assembly MEPs for Northern Ireland 2009–2014 MEPs for Northern Ireland 2014–2019 MEPs for Northern Ireland 2019–2020 Democratic Unionist Party MEPs Presbyterians from Northern Ireland Christian creationists 21st-century women MEPs for Northern Ireland 21st-century women politicians from Northern Ireland Spouses of life peers Northern Ireland MLAs 2017–2022 Women councillors in Northern Ireland Northern Ireland MLAs 2022–2027