Rachel Woods (born 15 April 1989) is a Northern Irish academic and former Green Party politician who served as a

Member of the Legislative Assembly A Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected to sit in a legislative assembly. The term most commonly refers to members of the legislature of a federated state or an autonomous region, but is also used for several nation ...

(MLA) for North Down from 2019 to

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

Early life

Woods is from Holywood, County Down. She holds a degree in history and a master's from

Queen's University Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...

. From the age of 15, Woods worked in hospitality as a cleaner, chef and bar worker. She also worked as a researcher and economic analyst for Analyse Africa, part of the

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

, and as a supervisor in

Holywood Holy Wood or Holywood may refer to: Places * Holywood, County Down, a town and townland in Northern Ireland ** Holywood, County Down (civil parish), a civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland ** Holywood railway station (Northern Ireland) ...

bar The Dirty Duck Ale House.

Political career

Woods joined the Green Party because she was "fed up screaming at the TV, fed up with politicians in my area who were supposed to represent me and who just didn't." Woods was co-opted onto

Ards and North Down Borough Council Ards and North Down Borough Council is a local authority in Northern Ireland that was established on 1 April 2015. It replaced Ards Borough Council and North Down Borough Council. The first elections to the authority took place on 22 May 201 ...

in October 2016, replacing Paul Roberts, in the Bangor West District. She was moved to the Holywood and Clandeboye District in March 2018, and retained the Green Party seat there at the local elections in 2019. In October 2019, Woods was co-opted to the

Northern Ireland Assembly The Northern Ireland Assembly (; ), often referred to by the metonym ''Stormont'', is the devolved unicameral legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliam ...

as a representative for North Down, succeeding former party leader, Steven Agnew. Woods passed many amendments to the Domestic Abuse Bill, including widening access to legal aid for victims of abuse and changes to the “child aggravator” clause providing for tougher custodial sentences where a child could be impacted by abuse, as well as additional reporting requirements. In 2022, her Safe Leave Bill passed the Assembly, making Northern Ireland the first region of the UK to provide 10 days paid leave to victims of domestic abuse. Upon passage, the Bill was said to be "a life saver for many people who are experiencing or have experienced domestic abuse." She has called for

votes at 16 Votes at 16 is a campaign in the United Kingdom which argues in favour of the reduction of the voting age to 16 for all public elections. The campaign espouses several principles in favour of lowering the voting age. Votes at 16 Coalition The V ...

in Northern Ireland elections and has been prominent in calls for the Northern Ireland local government pension scheme to divest from fossil fuels. In March 2022, the pension scheme moved £2.8 billion of its funds into low-carbon investments. She lost her North Down seat in the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election to

Connie Egan Connie Egan is a Northern Irish politician who is an Alliance Party Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA). She was elected as an MLA in the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election for North Down. Political career Early career (2019-202 ...

of the Alliance Party. Woods was co-opted back onto Ards and North Down Borough Council in September 2022, representing Holywood and Clandeboye again. She retained her seat at the 2023 election, though would resign from the Council in October that same year.

References

1989 births Living people Councillors in County Down Green Party Northern Ireland MLAs Feminists from Northern Ireland Female members of the Northern Ireland Assembly Northern Ireland MLAs 2017–2022 Politicians from Belfast Green Party Northern Ireland councillors Women councillors in Northern Ireland {{Northern-Ireland-MLA-stub