Naomi Long

Naomi Long MP
Member of Parliament for Belfast East
Incumbent
Assumed office 6 May 2010
Preceded by	Peter Robinson
Majority	1,533 (4.4%)
Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Belfast East
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 (Sinn Féin)
Succeeded by	Pat Convery (SDLP)
Personal details
Born	Naomi Rachel Johnston 13 December 1971 (1971-12-13) Belfast, County Down, Northern Ireland, UK
Political party	Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
Alma mater	Queen's University Belfast
Religion	Presbyterian
Website	Official profile at Alliance Party website

Naomi Long (born 13 December 1971) is a Northern Irish politician. She is a member of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland and currently (as of 2011) its deputy leader. She represents Belfast East in the United Kingdom House of Commons, and previously represented the same constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly. She served as only the second elected woman Lord Mayor of Belfast (2009-10).

Background

Born Naomi Rachel Johnston in East Belfast, she attended Mersey Street Primary and Bloomfield Collegiate School. She graduated from Queen's University of Belfast as a civil engineer in 1994, worked in structural engineering consultancy for two years, held a research and training post at Queen's University for three years, and went back into consultancy (environmental and hydraulic engineering) for four years. She is married to Michael Long, and is a member of Bloomfield Presbyterian Church.

Political history

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. At the 2007 Assembly election, 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).

On 6 May 2010, she defeated Peter Robinson, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, to become Member of Parliament (MP) for Belfast East in the House of Commons.

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 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 does not sit with the government or take the coalition whip.

Bibliography

• http://www.niassembly.gov.uk/members/biogs_03/long_n.htm

Offices held

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Peter Robinson	Member of Parliament for Belfast East 2010–present	Incumbent
Northern Ireland Assembly
Preceded by John Alderdice	MLA for Belfast East 2003–2010	Succeeded by Chris Lyttle
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