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Naomi Long

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Naomi Long
MLA
Official portrait, 2016
Minister of Justice
Incumbent
Assumed office
3 February 2024
First MinisterMichelle O'Neill
Preceded byHerself (2022)
In office
11 January 2020 – 27 October 2022
First MinisterArlene Foster
Paul Givan
Vacant
Preceded byClaire Sugden
Succeeded byHerself (2024)
Leader of the Alliance Party
Incumbent
Assumed office
26 October 2016
DeputyStephen Farry
Eóin Tennyson
Preceded byDavid Ford
Deputy Leader of the Alliance Party
In office
18 February 2006 – 26 October 2016
LeaderDavid Ford
Preceded byEileen Bell
Succeeded byStephen Farry
Member of the Legislative Assembly
for Belfast East
Incumbent
Assumed office
9 January 2020
Preceded byMáire Hendron
In office
5 May 2016 – 1 July 2019
Preceded byJudith Cochrane
Succeeded byMáire Hendron
In office
26 November 2003 – 5 July 2010
Preceded byJohn Alderdice
Succeeded byChris Lyttle
Member of the European Parliament
for Northern Ireland
In office
2 July 2019[1][2] – 31 January 2020
Preceded byJim Nicholson
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
Member of Parliament
for Belfast East
In office
6 May 2010 – 30 March 2015
Preceded byPeter Robinson
Succeeded byGavin Robinson
66th Lord Mayor of Belfast
In office
1 June 2009 – 1 June 2010
DeputyDanny Lavery
Preceded byTom Hartley
Succeeded byPat Convery
Member of the Belfast City Council
for Victoria Ward
In office
7 June 2001 – 26 August 2010
Preceded byDanny Dow
Succeeded byLaura McNamee
Personal details
Born
Naomi Rachel Johnston

(1971-12-13) 13 December 1971 (age 52)
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Political partyAlliance
Spouse
​
(m. 1995)​
[3]
RelationsAdrian Long (father-in-law)
Alma materQueen's University Belfast
AwardsBBC 100 Women (2022)[4]

Naomi Rachel Long MLA (née Johnston; born 13 December 1971) is a Northern Irish politician who has served as Minister of Justice in the Northern Ireland Executive since February 2024,[5] having previously served from January 2020 to October 2022. She has served as leader of the Alliance Party since 2016 and a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Belfast East since 2020.

Long served as Lord Mayor of Belfast from 2009 to 2010 and represented Belfast East in the Northern Ireland Assembly from 2003 to 2010. She resigned as an MLA after being elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Belfast East at the 2010 general election. She served for one parliamentary term and lost her seat to the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) at the 2015 general election. She returned to the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2016, before resigning for a second time after being elected as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Northern Ireland in 2019. After the United Kingdom left the European Union in 2020, Long returned as an MLA and was appointed Minister of Justice in the Northern Ireland Executive.

Background

[edit]

Born in east Belfast, she attended Mersey Street Primary and Bloomfield Collegiate School.[6] She graduated from Queen's University of Belfast with a degree in civil engineering in 1994, worked in a structural engineering consultancy for two years, held a research and training post at Queen's University for three years, and then went back into environmental and hydraulic engineering consultancy for four years.[7][8]

Political career

[edit]

She first took political office in 2001 when she was elected to Belfast City Council[9] for the Victoria ward. In 2003 Long was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly for Belfast East,[9] succeeding her fellow party member John Alderdice. In 2006 she was named deputy leader of her party.[9] In 2007 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).[10]

Member of Parliament

[edit]

On 6 May 2010 she defeated Peter Robinson, First Minister of Northern Ireland and leader of the DUP, to become Member of Parliament (MP) for Belfast East in the House of Commons.[11] She became the first MP elected to Westminster for the Alliance Party[12] (previously, Stratton Mills, a former Ulster Unionist Party MP, had changed parties to Alliance). Long also 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 did not sit with the coalition government nor take the coalition whip[13] and was not a member of the Liberal Democrats.[14]

On 10 December 2012, Long received a number of death threats and a petrol bomb was thrown inside an unmarked police car guarding her constituency office. This violence erupted as a reaction by Ulster loyalists to the decision by Alliance Party members of Belfast City Council to vote in favour of restricting the flying of the Union flag at Belfast City Hall to designated days throughout the year, which at the time constituted 18 specific days.[15][16]

In 2015, Long lost her seat in the Commons to Gavin Robinson of the DUP, as a result of a five-party unionist pact in the constituency which saw the UUP, UKIP, TUV and PUP all stand aside in favour of Robinson.[17]

She contested the seat for Alliance at the next two elections, and was the unsuccessful Alliance PPC for Belfast East for the 2024 United Kingdom general election.

Return to the Northern Ireland Assembly

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In January 2016, Long announced that she would return as an Assembly candidate in the 2016 elections having been nominated in place of incumbent Judith Cochrane.[18][19] She was subsequently elected on the first count with 14.7% of first-preference votes. Following her return to the Assembly, Long assumed positions on the Committee for Communities, the All Party Group on Fairtrade, the All Party Group for Housing, and chaired the All Party Group on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.[20]

In August 2016, Long called for Sinn Féin's Máirtín Ó Muilleoir to stand aside as Minister of Finance during an investigation of the Stormont Finance Committee's handling of its Nama inquiry, while Ó Muilleoir was a committee member. This followed allegations that his party had "coached" loyalist blogger Jamie Bryson prior to his appearance before the committee.[21]

In November 2016, Long criticised Sinn Féin and the DUP for delaying the publication of a working group report on abortion, which recommended legislative changes in cases of fatal foetal abnormality,[22] calling on the Executive "to act without further delay to help women who decide to seek a termination in these very difficult circumstances".[23]

Leader of the Alliance Party

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On 26 October 2016, Long was elected Alliance leader unopposed following the resignation of David Ford.[24] In the first manifesto released under her leadership, Long affirmed her commitment to building a "united, open, liberal and progressive" society. Her party's legislative priorities were revealed to include the harmonisation and strengthening of equality and anti-discrimination measures, the introduction of civil marriage equality, development of integrated education and a Northern Ireland framework to tackle climate change.[25]

In the 2017 Assembly election, Long topped the poll in Belfast East and was returned to the Assembly with 18.9% of first-preference votes. The election was widely viewed as a success for Alliance, with the party increasing its vote share by 2 percentage points and retaining all of its seats in a smaller Assembly. The party subsequently held the balance of power at Stormont.[26][27]

Alliance targeted two seats in South and Belfast East in the 2017 general election. During the campaign, Long reaffirmed her support for a People's Vote, marriage equality, Votes at 16 and greater transparency surrounding political donations. She also pledged to oppose any rollback of the Human Rights Act.[28]

Following the collapse of talks to restore devolution in February 2018, Long reiterated her view that the pay of MLAs should be cut in the absence of a functioning Executive.[29] In March 2018, Alliance launched its 'Next Steps Forward' paper, outlining a number of proposals aimed at breaking the deadlock and Stormont.[30] At the 2019 Alliance Party Conference, she accused Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Karen Bradley of an "appalling dereliction of duty" over the ongoing stalemate, saying that she had made "no concerted effort to end this interminable drift despite it allegedly being her top priority".[31]

In the 2019 local elections, Alliance saw a 65% rise in its representation on councils. Long hailed the "incredible result" as a watershed moment for politics in Northern Ireland.[32]

Long was elected to the European Parliament as a representative for Northern Ireland in May 2019 with 18.5% of first-preference votes, the best ever result for Alliance.[33] She was subsequently replaced in the Assembly by Máire Hendron, a founding member of the party and former deputy lord mayor of Belfast.[34] She then replaced Hendron in the Assembly with effect from 9 January 2020.[35]

In 2019, Long became the first Northern Ireland politician to have served at every level of government.[36][37]

In March 2022, Long told the Alliance Party Conference that "some politicians are addicted to crisis and conflict and simply not up to the job of actually governing".[38] Long led Alliance into the 2022 Assembly election on a platform of integrated education, health reform, a Green New Deal, tackling paramilitarism and reform of the Stormont institutions.[39]

Minister of Justice

[edit]

On 11 January 2020, following the restoration of the Northern Ireland Assembly after three years of stalemate, Long was elected Minister of Justice in the Northern Ireland Executive.[40] On 28 January, Long announced that she would progress new domestic abuse legislation through the Assembly which would make coercive control a criminal offence in Northern Ireland.[41] In June 2020, Long commissioned a review into the support available for prison officers following concerns about absence rates.[42] That same month, she announced her intention to introduce unexplained wealth orders in Northern Ireland to target paramilitary and criminal finances.[43]

In November 2020, Long said she was seriously reconsidering her position within the Executive following the DUP's deployment of a cross-community vote to prevent an extension of COVID-19 regulations. She told BBC News, "I have asked people to desist from this abuse of power because it will make my position in the executive unsustainable."[44]

Personal life

[edit]

Long is a member of Bloomfield Presbyterian Church. Following the Church's decision to exclude those in same-sex relationships from being full members, she expressed "great concern" and stated that she "didn't know" if she would remain a member herself.[45] She is married to Michael Long, an Alliance councillor on Belfast City Council and former Lord Mayor of Belfast, and son of the engineer Professor Adrian Long.[7][8] Long and her husband are the first husband and wife to have both served as Lord Mayors of Belfast.[46]

In August 2017, Long revealed that she had been suffering from endometriosis and would undergo surgery for the condition.[47]

Electoral history

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UK Parliament elections

Year Constituency Party Votes % Result
2005 Belfast East Alliance Party 3,746 12.2 Not elected
2010 Belfast East Alliance Party 12,839 37.2 Elected
2015 Belfast East Alliance Party 16,978 42.8 Not elected
2017 Belfast East Alliance Party 15,443 36.0 Not elected
2019 Belfast East Alliance Party 19,055 44.9 Not elected
2024 Belfast East Alliance Party 17,218 40.3 Not elected

Northern Ireland Assembly elections

Year Constituency Party First-preference votes % Result
2003 Belfast East Alliance Party 2,774 9.0 Elected
2007 Belfast East Alliance Party 5,583 18.8 Elected
2016 Belfast East Alliance Party 5,482 14.7 Elected
2017 Belfast East Alliance Party 7,610 18.9 Elected[48]
2022 Belfast East Alliance Party 8,195 18.95 Elected

European Parliament election

Year Constituency Party First-preference votes % Result
2019 Northern Ireland Alliance Party 105,928 18.50 Elected

References

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  1. ^ "Key dates ahead". European Parliament. 20 May 2017. Archived from the original on 25 May 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  2. ^ "Key dates ahead". BBC News. 22 May 2017. Archived from the original on 26 May 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  3. ^ Naomi Long MLA [@naomi_long] (26 September 2020). "So, not the Silver Wedding anniversary we planned" (Tweet). Retrieved 18 May 2022 – via Twitter.
  4. ^ "BBC 100 Women 2022: Who is on the list this year?". BBC News. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
  5. ^ "Stormont: Michelle O'Neill makes history as nationalist first minister". BBC News. 3 February 2024. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
  6. ^ Graham, Seanín (4 December 2017). "Alliance Party leader Naomi Long lifts lid on illness she hid for 20 years, in hope of helping others". The Irish News. Belfast. Archived from the original on 6 July 2018. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  7. ^ a b "Biography: Naomi Long". 10 September 2004. Archived from the original on 10 September 2004. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  8. ^ a b "Naomi LONG (The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland)". 11 January 2006. Archived from the original on 11 January 2006. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  9. ^ a b c Dale, Iain; Smith, Jacqui (10 September 2019). The honourable ladies. Volume 2, Profiles of women MPs 1997-2019. London: Biteback Publishing. ISBN 978-1-78590-245-1. OCLC 1108687383. Archived from the original on 15 May 2022. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  10. ^ "Naomi Long elected Belfast Mayor". UTV. 1 June 2009. Archived from the original on 8 June 2009. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  11. ^ "Inside Ireland". 31 July 2012. Archived from the original on 31 July 2012. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  12. ^ "Naomi Long MEP". Alliance Party of Northern Ireland. Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  13. ^ Parsley, Ian (12 December 2010). "Alliance must clarify precise relationship with LibDems". Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 16 December 2010.
  14. ^ "No, I do not regret receiving the...: 9 Dec 2010: House of Commons debates". TheyWorkForYou. 9 December 2010. Archived from the original on 18 February 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  15. ^ McDonald, Henry (10 December 2012). "MP's office attacked in Northern Ireland". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 14 March 2016. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
  16. ^ "Policy on the Flying of the Union Flag Equality Impact Assessment – Final Decision Report Appendices" (PDF). Belfast City Council. 27 December 2022. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
  17. ^ "East Belfast". Ark.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 22 May 2015. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  18. ^ "Naomi Long returns as East Belfast Alliance Assembly candidate". Belfast Telegraph. Belfast. ISSN 0307-5664. Archived from the original on 27 December 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  19. ^ McDowell, Iain (15 March 2016). "Standing down from Stormont". BBC News. Archived from the original on 28 December 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  20. ^ "Naomi Long Biography". Northern Ireland Assembly. Archived from the original on 27 December 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  21. ^ "Finance minister urged to 'step aside'". BBC News. 22 August 2016. Archived from the original on 28 December 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  22. ^ Devenport, Mark (28 November 2016). "Report 'recommends abortion law change'". BBC News. Archived from the original on 28 December 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  23. ^ "Abortion law needs changed now, says Long". Alliance Party of Northern Ireland. Archived from the original on 28 December 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  24. ^ "Naomi Long elected as new Leader of Alliance". Alliance Party of Northern Ireland. 26 October 2016. Archived from the original on 28 October 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  25. ^ "Manifesto 2017". Alliance Party of Northern Ireland. Archived from the original on 27 December 2018. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
  26. ^ McDonald, Henry; Grierson, Jamie (4 March 2017). "Sinn Féin makes major gains in Northern Ireland elections". The Guardian. London. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 28 December 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  27. ^ Geoghegan, Peter (4 March 2017). "4 takeaways from Northern Ireland's snap election". POLITICO. Archived from the original on 28 December 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  28. ^ Walker, Stephen (31 May 2017). "Alliance targets two seats in election". BBC News. Archived from the original on 4 July 2019. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
  29. ^ "'Cut £500 MLA pay rise', urges speaker". BBC News. 13 March 2018. Archived from the original on 4 July 2019. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
  30. ^ Devenport, Mark (22 March 2018). "Alliance sets out plan to break deadlock". BBC News. Archived from the original on 6 July 2019. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
  31. ^ Devenport, Mark (2 March 2019). "Bradley accused of 'dereliction of duty'". BBC News. Archived from the original on 4 July 2019. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
  32. ^ "Alliance hails 'breakthrough' NI election". BBC News. 4 May 2019. Archived from the original on 7 May 2019. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
  33. ^ McCormack, Jayne (28 May 2019). "A fast count and a historic Alliance surge". BBC News. Archived from the original on 6 July 2019. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
  34. ^ "Alliance chooses new MLA to replace Long". BBC News. 20 June 2019. Archived from the original on 6 July 2019. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
  35. ^ "New MLA - Belfast East Constituency". Electoral Office for Northern Ireland. 8 January 2020. Archived from the original on 11 January 2020. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  36. ^ Aston, Karri (24 May 2021). "The future of Northern Ireland - with Naomi Long MLA". www.cfg.polis.cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
  37. ^ "Alliance of engineering and politics: Naomi Long interview". www.linkedin.com. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
  38. ^ "Naomi Long: Alliance 'can end Stormont political soap operas'". BBC News. 5 March 2022. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  39. ^ "Alliance Manifesto 2022 Assembly Election". Alliance Party. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  40. ^ "DUP and Sinn Féin back in top jobs at Stormont". BBC News. 12 January 2020. Archived from the original on 25 February 2021. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  41. ^ "Domestic violence laws will go through Stormont, not Westminster". BBC News. 28 January 2020. Archived from the original on 29 April 2021. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  42. ^ "Prison officer support to be reviewed by minister". BBC News. 11 June 2020. Archived from the original on 3 June 2021. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  43. ^ "Justice minister targets criminals' assets". BBC News. 18 June 2020. Archived from the original on 23 March 2021. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  44. ^ "Naomi Long 'reconsidering position' in Northern Ireland Executive". BBC News. 12 November 2020. Archived from the original on 13 November 2020. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  45. ^ Walker, Stephen (15 June 2018). "Naomi Long 'angry' at Presbyterian Church". BBC News. Archived from the original on 27 December 2018. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
  46. ^ Simpson, Mark (9 May 2022). "Alliance: Michael Long 'makes history' as three-week mayor". BBC News. Archived from the original on 9 May 2022. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
  47. ^ "Alliance leader to undergo surgery". BBC News. 7 August 2017. Archived from the original on 27 December 2018. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
  48. ^ "Statement of Persons Nominated". Electoral Office of Northern Ireland. Archived from the original on 22 May 2017.
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Media related to Naomi Long at Wikimedia Commons

European Parliament
Preceded by MEP for Northern Ireland
2019 – 2020 		Constituency abolished
Northern Ireland Assembly
Preceded by Member of the Legislative Assembly
for Belfast East
2003–2010 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of the Legislative Assembly
for Belfast East
2016–2019 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of the Legislative Assembly
for Belfast East
2020–present 		Incumbent
Preceded by Minister of Justice
2020–2022 		Vacant
Party political offices
Preceded by Deputy Leader of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
2006–2016 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Leader of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
2016–present 		Incumbent
Civic offices
Preceded by Lord Mayor of Belfast
2009–2010 		Succeeded by
Pat Convery
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Belfast East
2010–2015 		Succeeded by
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