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==Background==
==Background==
Nigel Dodds was born in [[Derry]], [[County Londonderry]], Northern Ireland.<ref name=profile/>
Nigel Dodds was born in [[Londonderry]], [[County Londonderry]], [[Northern Ireland]].<ref name=profile/>
He was educated at [[Portora Royal School]], [[Enniskillen]], [[County Fermanagh]],<ref name=Dibret>Debrett's People of Today</ref> and studied Law at [[St John's College, Cambridge]], from which he graduated with a first-class degree, and where he won the university scholarship, McMahan studentship and Winfield Prize for Law.<ref name=Dibret/> Upon graduation, he returned to Northern Ireland and, after studying at the Institute of Professional Legal Studies at [[Queen's University, Belfast]] (IPLS), was called to the Northern Irish bar.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stratagem-ni.com/belfastnorthmlas.php|title=Stratagem profile|publisher=Stratagem-ni.com|accessdate=26 November 2010|deadurl=yes|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928094550/http://www.stratagem-ni.com/belfastnorthmlas.php|archivedate=28 September 2007|df=dmy-all}}</ref> After working as a [[barrister]], he worked at the [[Secretariat of the European Parliament]] from 1984-96.<ref name=profile/>
He was educated at [[Portora Royal School]], [[Enniskillen]], [[County Fermanagh]],<ref name=Dibret>Debrett's People of Today</ref> and studied Law at [[St John's College, Cambridge]], from which he graduated with a first-class degree, and where he won the university scholarship, McMahan studentship and Winfield Prize for Law.<ref name=Dibret/> Upon graduation, he returned to Northern Ireland and, after studying at the Institute of Professional Legal Studies at [[Queen's University, Belfast]] (IPLS), was called to the [[Bar of Northern Ireland]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stratagem-ni.com/belfastnorthmlas.php|title=Stratagem profile|publisher=Stratagem-ni.com|accessdate=26 November 2010|deadurl=yes|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928094550/http://www.stratagem-ni.com/belfastnorthmlas.php|archivedate=28 September 2007|df=dmy-all}}</ref> After working as a [[barrister]], he worked at the [[Secretariat of the European Parliament]] from 1984-96.<ref name=profile/>


His father Joe was a long-standing [[Democratic Unionist Party]] (DUP) member of [[Fermanagh District Council]] until his death in 2008.<ref>[http://www.dup.org.uk/CanProfile.asp?CandidateID=11 DUP profile] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070407000130/http://www.dup.org.uk/CanProfile.asp?CandidateID=11 |date=7 April 2007 }}</ref> He is married to DUP MEP [[Diane Dodds]]; they have one son and one daughter, and live in [[Banbridge]], [[County Down]].
His father Joe was a long-standing [[Democratic Unionist Party]] (DUP) member of [[Fermanagh District Council]] until his death in 2008.<ref>[http://www.dup.org.uk/CanProfile.asp?CandidateID=11 DUP profile] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070407000130/http://www.dup.org.uk/CanProfile.asp?CandidateID=11 |date=7 April 2007 }}</ref> He is married to DUP MEP [[Diane Dodds]]; they have one son and one daughter, and live in [[Banbridge]], [[County Down]].

Revision as of 18:35, 5 December 2017

The Right Honourable
Nigel Dodds
OBE MP
Leader of the Democratic Unionist Party in the House of Commons
Assumed office
6 May 2010
Preceded byIan Paisley
Deputy Leader of the Democratic Unionist Party
Assumed office
31 May 2008
LeaderPeter Robinson
Arlene Foster
Preceded byPeter Robinson
Minister of Finance and Personnel
In office
5 June 2008 – 1 July 2009
First MinisterPeter Robinson
Preceded byPeter Robinson
Succeeded bySammy Wilson
Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment
In office
8 May 2007 – 5 June 2008
First MinisterIan Paisley
Peter Robinson
Preceded byReg Empey
Succeeded byArlene Foster
Minister for Social Development
In office
24 October 2001 – 14 October 2002
First MinisterReg Empey (Acting)
David Trimble
Preceded byMaurice Morrow
Succeeded byMargaret Ritchie
In office
21 November 1999 – 27 July 2000
First MinisterDavid Trimble
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byMaurice Morrow
Member of Parliament
for Belfast North
Assumed office
7 June 2001
Preceded byCecil Walker
Majority2,081 (4.5%)
Member of the Legislative Assembly
for Belfast North
In office
25 June 1998 – 10 September 2010
Preceded byConstituency established
Succeeded byWilliam Humphrey
Personal details
Born
Nigel Alexander Dodds

(1958-08-20) 20 August 1958 (age 65)
Derry, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland
NationalityBritish
Political partyDemocratic Unionist Party
SpouseDiane Dodds
Children2
Alma materSt John's College, Cambridge
Queen's University Belfast
ProfessionBarrister
WebsiteOfficial website

Nigel Alexander Dodds, OBE (born 20 August 1958) is a Northern Irish barrister and unionist politician. He is the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) for Belfast North, and has been deputy leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) since June 2008.[1] He has been Lord Mayor of Belfast twice, and from 1993 has been General Secretary of the DUP.[2]

Dodds became North Belfast's MP in the 2001 UK general elections. He has served in the past as a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly, and as Minister of Finance in the Northern Ireland Executive.

Background

Nigel Dodds was born in Londonderry, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland.[2] He was educated at Portora Royal School, Enniskillen, County Fermanagh,[3] and studied Law at St John's College, Cambridge, from which he graduated with a first-class degree, and where he won the university scholarship, McMahan studentship and Winfield Prize for Law.[3] Upon graduation, he returned to Northern Ireland and, after studying at the Institute of Professional Legal Studies at Queen's University, Belfast (IPLS), was called to the Bar of Northern Ireland.[4] After working as a barrister, he worked at the Secretariat of the European Parliament from 1984-96.[2]

His father Joe was a long-standing Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) member of Fermanagh District Council until his death in 2008.[5] He is married to DUP MEP Diane Dodds; they have one son and one daughter, and live in Banbridge, County Down.

Politics

Dodds entered municipal politics in 1981 when he stood unsuccessfully for the Enniskillen part of Fermanagh District Council.[6] Four years later in 1985, he was elected to Belfast City Council for the religiously and socially mixed Castle electoral area in the north of the city.[7]

He attracted controversy when he and then DUP leader Ian Paisley attended a wake for Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) leader John Bingham.[8]

Dodds soon rose to prominence in the party. He was elected for two one-year terms as Lord Mayor of Belfast in June 1988 (when he became the youngest ever Lord Mayor of Belfast aged 29)[9] and June 1992. The same year, he stood unsuccessfully for the East Antrim constituency in the Westminster election. He was elected to the Northern Ireland Forum in 1996 and topped the poll in North Belfast in all three elections to the reconstituted Northern Ireland Assembly in 1998, 2003 and 2007.[10] Dodds was awarded the OBE in 1997 for services to local government.[3]

North Belfast had historically been strong territory for the DUP, with Johnny McQuade representing the constituency in the British House of Commons from 1979 to 1983. The DUP stood down in favour of the Ulster Unionist Party in Westminster elections in the late 1980s and 1990s, in order to avoid splitting the unionist vote. Then, in 2001, Dodds challenged sitting Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) MP Cecil Walker, despite the danger of losing the mixed constituency to an Irish nationalist. Dodds won just over 40% of the overall vote and with that a 6,387 majority over Sinn Féin's Gerry Kelly, with the incumbent Walker being pushed into fourth place.[citation needed][11]

Dodds was Minister of Social Development in the Northern Ireland Executive from 21 November 1999 but resigned on 27 July 2000, then served again from 24 October 2001, when the devolved institutions were restored, until he was dismissed from office on 11 October 2002, shortly before the Executive and the Northern Ireland Assembly were collapsed by the UUP.[citation needed]

Dodds is vice-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Flag Group.[12] He was appointed to the Privy Council of the United Kingdom on 9 June 2010.[13]

In a Westminster debate on the issue of governance in association football, Dodds highlighted that footballers born in Northern Ireland often opt to play for the Republic of Ireland national football team instead, saying "action needs to be taken to stop the haemorrhaging of talent from Northern Ireland".[14]

Paramilitary attack

His constituency office was targeted by the Continuity IRA in 2003 when a viable improvised explosive device was left outside the office. The bomb was defused by British Army explosive experts.[15]

Expenses

In April 2009, after a leaked report showing MPs' expenses, Dodds had the highest expenses of any MP in Northern Ireland, ranking him 13th highest of all UK MPs.[16][17]

12 July 2013 injury

At the Twelfth of July 2013 Orange order parades, Dodds was knocked unconscious at Woodvale Avenue in the Greater Shankill area of North Belfast by a brick thrown by fellow Ulster loyalists rioting against Police Service of Northern Ireland roadblocks. The violence broke out following the decision by the Parades Commission to bar Orangemen from walking past the Irish republican Ardoyne area.[18][19] Dodds had been expelled from the House of Commons chamber for using unparliamentary language by Speaker John Bercow on 10 July 2013, after Dodds had refused to withdraw his accusation that the Conservative Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Theresa Villiers was being "deliberately deceptive" in answering questions about her powers in respect of what he called the "outrageous" Parades Commission ruling.[20]

References

  1. ^ Angela Balakrishnan and agencies (14 April 2008). "Dodds will be DUP deputy". London, UK: Guardian. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
  2. ^ a b c Northern Ireland Assembly Information Office (20 August 1958). "NI Assembly profile". Niassembly.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 16 December 2010. Retrieved 26 November 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ a b c Debrett's People of Today
  4. ^ "Stratagem profile". Stratagem-ni.com. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 26 November 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ DUP profile Archived 7 April 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ "Fermanagh 1981 election". Ark.ac.uk. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
  7. ^ "Belfast 1985 local election". Ark.ac.uk. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
  8. ^ Profile, Nuzhound.com; accessed 12 August 2015.
  9. ^ "BBC profile". BBC News. 7 May 2007. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
  10. ^ Northern Irish Assembly election info, ark.ac.uk; accessed 12 August 2015.
  11. ^ Westminster, Department of the Official Report (Hansard), House of Commons,. "House of Commons Hansard Debates for 27 Jun 2001 (pt 21)". parliament.uk. Retrieved 14 December 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  12. ^ UK Parliament - Register of All Party Groups Archived 19 November 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ "Privy Council appointments". Privy Council. 9 June 2010. Archived from the original on 2 December 2010. Retrieved 26 July 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  14. ^ Walker, Stephen. "BBC News - Nigel Dodds calls for talks over football eligibility". BBC News. BBC News. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
  15. ^ Bomb defused at MP's office, bbc.co.uk; accessed 12 August 2015.
  16. ^ "Dodds' expenses bill NI's highest". BBC News. 1 April 2009.
  17. ^ "Nigel Dodds MP, Belfast North, former MLA, Belfast North". TheyWorkForYou.com. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  18. ^ Quinn, Ben; McDonald, Henry (12 July 2013). "Clashes in Belfast following Twelfth of July parades - as it happened". Retrieved 14 December 2016 – via The Guardian.
  19. ^ Police and MP Nigel Dodds injured in Belfast riots, bbc.co.uk; accessed 12 August 2015.
  20. ^ Nigel Dodds expelled from Commons chamber, bbc.co.uk; accessed 12 August 2015.
Civic offices
Preceded by Lord Mayor of Belfast
1988–1989 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Lord Mayor of Belfast
1991–1992 		Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by Secretary of the Democratic Unionist Party
1993–2008 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Deputy Leader of the Democratic Unionist Party
2008–present 		Incumbent
Preceded by Leader of the Democratic Unionist Party in the House of Commons
2010–present
Northern Ireland Forum
New forum Member of the Northern Ireland Forum
for North Belfast
1996–1998 		Forum dissolved
Northern Ireland Assembly
New assembly Member of the Legislative Assembly
for Belfast North
1998–2010 		Succeeded by
Political offices
New office Minister for Social Development
1999–2000 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister for Social Development
2001–2002 		Vacant
Office suspended
Title next held by
Margaret Ritchie
Vacant
Office suspended
Title last held by
Reg Empey 		Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment
2007–2008 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of Finance and Personnel
2008–2009 		Succeeded by
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Belfast North
2001–present 		Incumbent
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