Nigel Dodds
Encyclopedia
Nigel Alexander Dodds, OBE
, MP
, BL (born 20 August, 1958) is a barrister
and Northern Irish
unionist politician. He is Member of Parliament
(MP) for Belfast North
, and deputy leader of the Democratic Unionist Party
. He has been Lord Mayor of Belfast
twice, and from 1993 has been General Secretary of the DUP. Since June 2008 he has also been Deputy Leader of the DUP.
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
.
, Northern Ireland
,
and was educated at Portora Royal School
, Enniskillen
, County Fermanagh
and St John's College, Cambridge
(First class law MA) where he won the university scholarship, McMahan studentship and Winfield Prize for Law. 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 . After working as a barrister
he worked at the Secretariat of the European Parliament
from 1984 to 1996.
His father Joe, was a long standing DUP
member of Fermanagh District Council
until his death in 2008. Nigel Dodds is married (to Diane Dodds
); they have one son and one daughter, and live in Banbridge
, County Down
.
when he stood unsuccessfully for the Enniskillen part of Fermanagh District Council
. 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.
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 )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. Dodds was awarded the OBE
in 1997 for services to Local Government.
He attracted controversy when he and then DUP leader Ian Paisley
attended the wake of murdered Ulster Volunteer Force leader John Bingham
.
The troubled and fragmented constituency of North Belfast, with its kaleidoscope of rich and poor, Catholic
and Protestant areas, had historically been strong territory for the DUP, with Johnny McQuade representing the constituency in the British House of Commons
from 1979-1983. However, the DUP had 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. However, in 2001, Dodds challenged sitting Ulster Unionist Party
MP Cecil Walker
, despite the dangers of losing the mixed constituency to a nationalist
. However, Dodds won just over 40% of the vote, and a 6,387 majority over Sinn Féin
's Gerry Kelly
, with Walker being pushed into fourth place.
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 Assembly
were collapsed by the Ulster Unionist Party
.
Dodds is vice-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Flag Group
He was appointed as a Privy Counsellor
on 9 June 2010.
was left outside the office. The bomb was defused by British Army
explosive experts.
.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
, MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
, BL (born 20 August, 1958) is a barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
and Northern Irish
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
unionist politician. He is Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for Belfast North
Belfast North (UK Parliament constituency)
Belfast North is a Parliamentary Constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons.-Boundaries:The seat was created in 1922 when, as part of the establishment of the devolved Stormont Parliament for Northern Ireland, the number of MPs in the Westminster Parliament was drastically cut...
, and deputy leader of the Democratic Unionist Party
Democratic Unionist Party
The Democratic Unionist Party is the larger of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland. Founded by Ian Paisley and currently led by Peter Robinson, it is currently the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly and the fourth-largest party in the House of Commons of the...
. He has been Lord Mayor of Belfast
Lord Mayor of Belfast
The Lord Mayor of Belfast is the leader and chairman of Belfast City Council, elected annually from and by the City's 51 councillors.The Lord Mayor is Niall Ó Donnghaile of Sinn Féin, while the Deputy Lord Mayor is Ruth Patterson of the Democratic Unionist Party, who were elected in May 2011.The...
twice, and from 1993 has been General Secretary of the DUP. Since June 2008 he has also been Deputy Leader of the DUP.
Dodds became North Belfast's MP in the 2001 UK general elections
United Kingdom general election, 2001
The United Kingdom general election, 2001 was held on Thursday 7 June 2001 to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. It was dubbed "the quiet landslide" by the media, as the Labour Party was re-elected with another landslide result and only suffered a net loss of 6 seats...
. He has served in the past as a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly
Northern Ireland Assembly
The Northern Ireland Assembly is the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and to appoint the Northern Ireland Executive...
, and as Minister of Finance in the Northern Ireland Executive
Northern Ireland Executive
The Northern Ireland Executive is the executive arm of the Northern Ireland Assembly, the devolved legislature for Northern Ireland. It is answerable to the Assembly and was established according to the terms of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, which followed the Good Friday Agreement...
.
Background
Nigel Dodds was born in DerryDerry
Derry or Londonderry is the second-biggest city in Northern Ireland and the fourth-biggest city on the island of Ireland. The name Derry is an anglicisation of the Irish name Doire or Doire Cholmcille meaning "oak-wood of Colmcille"...
, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
,
and was educated at Portora Royal School
Portora Royal School
Portora Royal School for boys, and some 6th form girls, located in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, is one of a number of 'free schools' founded by Royal Charter in 1608, by James I...
, Enniskillen
Enniskillen
Enniskillen is a town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is located almost exactly in the centre of the county between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of 13,599 in the 2001 Census...
, County Fermanagh
County Fermanagh
Fermanagh District Council is the only one of the 26 district councils in Northern Ireland that contains all of the county it is named after. The district council also contains a small section of County Tyrone in the Dromore and Kilskeery road areas....
and St John's College, Cambridge
St John's College, Cambridge
St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's alumni include nine Nobel Prize winners, six Prime Ministers, three archbishops, at least two princes, and three Saints....
(First class law MA) where he won the university scholarship, McMahan studentship and Winfield Prize for Law. 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 . After working as a barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
he worked at the Secretariat of the European Parliament
Secretariat of the European Parliament
The secretariat of the European Parliament is the administrative body of the European Parliament headed by a Secretary-General. It is based in the Kirchberg district of Luxembourg and around the Brussels-Luxembourg Station in Brussels and employs 4000 officials.-Secretary-General:The Secretary...
from 1984 to 1996.
His father Joe, was a long standing DUP
Democratic Unionist Party
The Democratic Unionist Party is the larger of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland. Founded by Ian Paisley and currently led by Peter Robinson, it is currently the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly and the fourth-largest party in the House of Commons of the...
member of Fermanagh District Council
Fermanagh District Council
Fermanagh District Council is a local council in Northern Ireland. The borders of the district are very similar to those of the traditional County Fermanagh, containing all of that county plus a small section of County Tyrone in the Dromore Road and Kilskeery Road areas. Council headquarters are...
until his death in 2008. Nigel Dodds is married (to Diane Dodds
Diane Dodds
Diane Dodds is a Democratic Unionist Party politician from Northern Ireland, and a Member of the European Parliament for the Northern Ireland constituency.-Career:...
); they have one son and one daughter, and live in Banbridge
Banbridge
Banbridge is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the River Bann and the A1 road. It was named after a bridge built over the Bann in 1712. The town grew as a coaching stop on the road from Belfast to Dublin and thrived from Irish linen manufacturing...
, County Down
County Down
-Cities:*Belfast *Newry -Large towns:*Dundonald*Newtownards*Bangor-Medium towns:...
.
Politics
Dodds entered municipal politics in 1981Northern Ireland local elections, 1981
Elections for local government were held in Northern Ireland in 1981.-Overall:-Belfast:...
when he stood unsuccessfully for the Enniskillen part of Fermanagh District Council
Fermanagh District Council
Fermanagh District Council is a local council in Northern Ireland. The borders of the district are very similar to those of the traditional County Fermanagh, containing all of that county plus a small section of County Tyrone in the Dromore Road and Kilskeery Road areas. Council headquarters are...
. Four years later in 1985
Northern Ireland local elections, 1985
Elections for local government were held in Northern Ireland on 15 May 1985.-1981 elections:The previous elections had been fought in the middle of the hunger strike and the H-Block Prison Protest...
, he was elected to Belfast City Council
Belfast City Council
Belfast City Council is the local authority with responsibility for the city of Belfast, the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland. The Council serves an estimated population of , the largest of any district council in Northern Ireland, while also being the fourth smallest by area...
for the religiously and socially mixed Castle electoral area in the north of the city.
Dodds soon rose to prominence in the party. He was elected for two one-year terms as Lord Mayor of Belfast
Lord Mayor of Belfast
The Lord Mayor of Belfast is the leader and chairman of Belfast City Council, elected annually from and by the City's 51 councillors.The Lord Mayor is Niall Ó Donnghaile of Sinn Féin, while the Deputy Lord Mayor is Ruth Patterson of the Democratic Unionist Party, who were elected in May 2011.The...
in June 1988 (when he became the youngest ever Lord Mayor of Belfast aged 29 )and June 1992. The same year, he stood unsuccessfully for the East Antrim constituency
East Antrim (UK Parliament constituency)
East Antrim is a Parliamentary Constituency in the House of Commons and also an Assembly constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly. It has voted for Unionist candidates since its re-creation in 1983.-Boundaries:...
in the Westminster election. He was elected to the Northern Ireland Forum
Northern Ireland Forum
The Northern Ireland Forum was a body set up in 1996 as part of a process of negotiations that eventually led to the Belfast Agreement in 1998....
in 1996 and topped the poll in North Belfast
Belfast North (Assembly constituency)
Belfast North is a constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly.The seat was first used for a Northern Ireland-only election for the Northern Ireland Assembly, 1973...
in all three elections to the reconstituted Northern Ireland Assembly
Northern Ireland Assembly
The Northern Ireland Assembly is the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and to appoint the Northern Ireland Executive...
in 1998, 2003 and 2007. Dodds was awarded the OBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
in 1997 for services to Local Government.
He attracted controversy when he and then DUP leader Ian Paisley
Ian Paisley
Ian Richard Kyle Paisley, Baron Bannside, PC is a politician and church minister in Northern Ireland. As the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party , he and Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness were elected First Minister and deputy First Minister respectively on 8 May 2007.In addition to co-founding...
attended the wake of murdered Ulster Volunteer Force leader John Bingham
John Bingham
John Armor Bingham was a Republican congressman from Ohio, America, judge advocate in the trial of the Abraham Lincoln assassination and a prosecutor in the impeachment trials of Andrew Johnson...
.
The troubled and fragmented constituency of North Belfast, with its kaleidoscope of rich and poor, Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
and Protestant areas, had historically been strong territory for the DUP, with Johnny McQuade representing the constituency in the British House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
from 1979-1983. However, the DUP had stood down in favour of the Ulster Unionist Party
Ulster Unionist Party
The Ulster Unionist Party – sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or, in a historic sense, simply the Unionist Party – is the more moderate of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland...
in Westminster elections in the late 1980s and 1990s, in order to avoid splitting the unionist vote. However, in 2001, Dodds challenged sitting Ulster Unionist Party
Ulster Unionist Party
The Ulster Unionist Party – sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or, in a historic sense, simply the Unionist Party – is the more moderate of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland...
MP Cecil Walker
Cecil Walker
Sir Alfred Cecil Walker was an Ulster Unionist Member of Parliament for North Belfast from 1983 to 2001.Walker was born in Belfast. His father was a police constable. He was educated at Everton elementary school, Model Boys' school and Belfast Methodist College. He worked for the Belfast timber...
, despite the dangers of losing the mixed constituency to a nationalist
Irish nationalism
Irish nationalism manifests itself in political and social movements and in sentiment inspired by a love for Irish culture, language and history, and as a sense of pride in Ireland and in the Irish people...
. However, Dodds won just over 40% of the vote, and a 6,387 majority over Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
's Gerry Kelly
Gerry Kelly
Gerard "Gerry" Kelly is an Irish republican politician and former Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteer who played a leading role in the negotiations that led to the Good Friday Agreement on 10 April 1998...
, with Walker being pushed into fourth place.
Dodds was Minister of Social Development in the Northern Ireland Executive
Northern Ireland Executive
The Northern Ireland Executive is the executive arm of the Northern Ireland Assembly, the devolved legislature for Northern Ireland. It is answerable to the Assembly and was established according to the terms of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, which followed the Good Friday Agreement...
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 Assembly
Northern Ireland Assembly
The Northern Ireland Assembly is the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and to appoint the Northern Ireland Executive...
were collapsed by the Ulster Unionist Party
Ulster Unionist Party
The Ulster Unionist Party – sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or, in a historic sense, simply the Unionist Party – is the more moderate of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland...
.
Dodds is vice-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Flag Group
He was appointed as a Privy Counsellor
Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...
on 9 June 2010.
Paramilitary attack
His constituency office was targeted by the Continuity IRA in 2003 when a viable improvised explosive deviceImprovised explosive device
An improvised explosive device , also known as a roadside bomb, is a homemade bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action...
was left outside the office. The bomb was defused by British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
explosive experts.
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. In July 2009, all MPs' claimed expenses, since 2004, will be published in line with the Freedom of Information Act 2000Freedom of Information Act 2000
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 is an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that creates a public "right of access" to information held by public authorities. It is the implementation of freedom of information legislation in the United Kingdom on a national level...
.
External links
- Nigel Dodds OBE MP official constituency website
- Nigel Dodds at the Northern Ireland AssemblyNorthern Ireland AssemblyThe Northern Ireland Assembly is the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and to appoint the Northern Ireland Executive...
- Profile at the Conservative Party
- Maiden Speech : House of Commons - 27 June 2001