Michelle McIlveen MLA (born 21 January 1971) is a Unionist politician from

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 ...

representing the

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). She was elected to 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 ...

as a

member for

Strangford Strangford (from Old Norse ''Strangr fjörðr'', meaning "strong sea-inlet") is a small village at the mouth of Strangford Lough, on the Lecale peninsula in County Down, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 475 at the 2001 Census. On the ...

in 2007. She has been General Secretary of the DUP since 2008. She served as Minister for Education since from June 2021 to October 2022

Early life and education

A native of Newtownards, she attended

Methodist College Belfast God with us , established = 1865 , type = Voluntary grammar , religion = Interdenominational , principal = Jenny Lendrum , chair_label = Chairwoman , chair = Revd. Dr Janet Unsworth , founder ...

and later

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 = ...

where she took a Master's Degree in Irish Politics and later still a

Postgraduate Certificate in Education The Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE/PGCertEd) is a one- or two-year higher education course in England, Wales and Northern Ireland which provides training in order to allow graduates to become teachers within maintained schools. In ...

, the necessary qualification to teach in most parts of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

. She taught History and Politics at

Grosvenor Grammar School Grosvenor Grammar School (formerly Grosvenor High School) is an 11–18 co-educational controlled grammar school and sixth form in Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. History Grosvenor Grammar School was founded in 1945 as Grosvenor Hig ...

in East Belfast for a number of years before entering full-time politics.

Political career

McIlveen was first elected as a councillor to

Ards Borough Council Ards Borough Council was the local authority of Ards in Northern Ireland. It merged with North Down Borough Council North Down Borough Council was a Local Council in County Down in Northern Ireland. It merged with Ards Borough Council in M ...

in 2005. She then became an MLA for

in 2007, a seat she has held since. Her constituency office is in Comber. McIlveen became the Junior Minister in the

Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister The Executive Office is a devolved Northern Ireland government department in the Northern Ireland Executive with overall responsibility for the running of the Executive. The ministers with overall responsibility for the department are the Firs ...

on 11 May 2015 until 28 October 2015. She became the Minister for Regional Development on 21 September 2015. This post had been held by the

Ulster Unionist Party The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it led unionist opposition to the Irish Home Rule m ...

(UUP) minister Danny Kennedy until his party withdrew from the

Northern Ireland Executive The Northern Ireland Executive is the devolved government of Northern Ireland, an administrative branch of the legislature – the Northern Ireland Assembly. It is answerable to the assembly and was initially established according to the ...

, and under the

D'Hondt method The D'Hondt method, also called the Jefferson method or the greatest divisors method, is a method for allocating seats in parliaments among federal states, or in party-list proportional representation systems. It belongs to the class of highes ...

the department was transferred to the DUP. McIlveen was appointed as minister for this department, with Emma Little-Pengelly replacing her as Junior Minister. McIlveen then served as the Minister of Agriculture, Environment, and Rural Affairs from 2016 until the collapse of the

in January 2017. On 14 June 2021, McIlveen, a former teacher, was appointed as the Minister for Education by the DUP leader

Edwin Poots Edwin Poots (born 27 April 1965) is a British politician in Northern Ireland who served as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) from May to June 2021. He was first elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) in 1998, and was ...

. She remained in the post under

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson Sir Jeffrey Mark Donaldson (born 7 December 1962) is a People of Northern Ireland, Northern Irish politician who has served as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) since June 2021. He has been the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom) ...

's leadership.DUP profile
dup.org.uk; accessed 14 May 2016.

Notes

References

External links

NI Assembly (MLA Profile)DUP website
{{DEFAULTSORT:McIlveen, Michelle 1971 births Living people Alumni of Queen's University Belfast Members of Ards Borough Council Ministers of the Northern Ireland Executive (since 1999) Junior ministers of the Northern Ireland Assembly (since 1999) Democratic Unionist Party MLAs Northern Ireland MLAs 2007–2011 Northern Ireland MLAs 2011–2016 Northern Ireland MLAs 2016–2017 Northern Ireland MLAs 2017–2022 Female members of the Northern Ireland Assembly People educated at Methodist College Belfast Politicians from Belfast Women ministers of the Northern Ireland Executive Women councillors in Northern Ireland Northern Ireland MLAs 2022–2027