Nigel Dodds

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For the sociologist, see Nigel Dodd.
The Right Honourable
The Lord Dodds of Duncairn
OBE PC
File:Official portrait of Nigel Dodds crop 2.jpg
Official portrait, 2017
Leader of the Democratic Unionist Party in the House of Lords
Assumed office
30 June 2021
Leader Jeffrey Donaldson
Preceded by Office established
Deputy Leader of the Democratic Unionist Party
In office
31 May 2008 – 28 May 2021
Leader
Preceded by Peter Robinson
Succeeded by Paula Bradley
Leader of the Democratic Unionist Party in the House of Commons
In office
6 May 2010 – 13 December 2019
Leader
  • Peter Robinson
  • Arlene Foster
Preceded by Peter Robinson
Succeeded by Jeffrey Donaldson
Ministerial offices
Minister of Finance and Personnel
In office
5 June 2008 – 1 July 2009
First Minister Peter Robinson
Preceded by Peter Robinson
Succeeded by Sammy Wilson
Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment
In office
8 May 2007 – 5 June 2008
First Minister
Preceded by Reg Empey
Succeeded by Arlene Foster
Minister for Social Development
In office
24 October 2001 – 14 October 2002
First Minister
Preceded by Maurice Morrow
Succeeded by Margaret Ritchie
In office
21 November 1999 – 27 July 2000
First Minister David Trimble
Preceded by Office established
Succeeded by Maurice Morrow
Parliamentary offices
Member of the House of Lords
Assumed office
19 October 2020
Member of Parliament
for Belfast North
In office
7 June 2001 – 6 November 2019
Preceded by Cecil Walker
Succeeded by John Finucane
Member of the Legislative Assembly
for Belfast North
In office
25 June 1998 – 10 September 2010
Preceded by Constituency established
Succeeded by William Humphrey
Local government offices
45th and 48th Lord Mayor of Belfast
In office
1 June 1991 – 1 June 1992
Preceded by Fred Cobain
Succeeded by Herbert Ditty
In office
1 June 1988 – 1 June 1989
Preceded by J.J. Dixon Gilmore
Succeeded by Reg Empey
Personal details
Born Nigel Alexander Dodds
(1958-08-20) 20 August 1958 (age 65)
Derry, Northern Ireland
Nationality British
Political party Democratic Unionist Party
Spouse(s) Diane Dodds
Children 3
Alma mater St John's College, Cambridge
Queen's University of Belfast
Profession Politician
Website Official website

Nigel Alexander Dodds, Baron Dodds of Duncairn, OBE, PC, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , (born 20 August 1958), is a British unionist politician who has been the Leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in the House of Lords since 2021, and was the deputy leader of the DUP from 2008 to 2021.

Born in Derry and raised in County Fermanagh, Dodds originally practised as a barrister, and became Member of Parliament for the Belfast North constituency at the 2001 UK general election and served in that role until he was defeated by John Finucane of Sinn Féin in 2019.

Dodds has served in the past as a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly, and as Minister of Finance in the Northern Ireland Executive. In July 2020, he was nominated for a peerage in the House of Lords and announced in September 2020 that he would take the title Lord Dodds of Duncairn. He has been Lord Mayor of Belfast twice, and served as General Secretary of the DUP from 1993 to 2008.

Early life and career

Nigel Dodds was born in Derry, Northern Ireland.[1] His father Joe was a long-standing Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) member of Fermanagh District Council until his death in 2008.[2]

Raised in County Fermanagh, he was educated at Portora Royal School in 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 of Belfast, 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 to 1996.[1]

Politics

Dodds entered municipal politics in the 1981 local elections when he stood unsuccessfully for the Enniskillen part of Fermanagh District Council.[5] 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.[6]

He attracted controversy when he and then DUP leader Ian Paisley attended a wake for Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) leader John Bingham.[7]

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[8] and June 1992 which was only surpassed when Niall Ó Donnghaile was elected as Lord Mayor in 2011 at the age of 25. In the same year, Dodds 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 Belfast North in all three elections to the reconstituted Northern Ireland Assembly in 1998, 2003 and 2007.[9] He was awarded the OBE in 1997 for services to local government.[3]

North Belfast had historically been strong territory for the DUP, 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][10]

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.[11]

Dodds became Deputy Leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in June 2008.[12] He was appointed to the Privy Council of the United Kingdom on 9 June 2010, when he entered Westminster after the general election as the new party leader in parliament.[13][14]

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.[15][16][needs update]

In a 2012 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".[17]

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.[18]

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.[19][20] 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.[21]

2017 onwards

Dodds said that the 2017 general election had "done more to maximise our influence" as it led to the DUP supporting a Conservative minority government. Arlene Foster together with Dodds set up the 'confidence-and-supply deal' with the Conservative Government; but relations with Theresa May have not always been smooth.[22] Dodds opposed any attempts from the Republic of Ireland for 'annexation' of the north, and rejected the Brussels "Backstop option", stating it was tantamount to a surrender of sovereignty.[23]

In January 2018, the Renewable Heat Incentive scandal made Dodds even more important to the government in Westminster, because the collapse of the Executive for the first time since 2002, was met with a deal for an extra £1 billion in funding for Northern Ireland.[24] In June 2018, Dodds stated that "anything that would diminish the Union of the United Kingdom would be a clear red line for us."[25]

In March 2019, Dodds was one of 21 MPs who voted against LGBT inclusive sex and relationship education in English schools.[26][27][28]

He was defeated at the 2019 United Kingdom general election, losing his seat to Sinn Féin's John Finucane.[29]

House of Lords

Dodds was nominated for a life peerage in the 2019 Dissolution Honours and created Baron Dodds of Duncairn on 18 September 2020.[30][31] He made his maiden speech in the House of Lords on 3 November 2020.[32]

On 4 May 2021, Dodds announced that he would not seek re-election as deputy leader.[33]

Personal life

Dodds is married to DUP politician Diane Dodds; they have two sons and one daughter, and live in Banbridge, County Down.[citation needed]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ DUP profile Archived 7 April 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Debrett's People of Today
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Profile Archived 18 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Nuzhound.com; accessed 12 August 2015.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Northern Irish Assembly election info Archived 8 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine, ark.ac.uk; accessed 12 August 2015.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ UK Parliament - Register of All Party Groups Archived 19 November 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Parliamentary Information List, number 08324, 31 May 2018. Democratic Unionist Party: Leaders and Officials since 1971, House of Commons Library, 05-06-2018.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Bomb defused at MP's office Archived 24 November 2003 at the Wayback Machine, bbc.co.uk; accessed 12 August 2015.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Police and MP Nigel Dodds injured in Belfast riots Archived 2 December 2018 at the Wayback Machine, BBC News; accessed 12 August 2015.
  21. ↑ Nigel Dodds expelled from Commons chamber Archived 10 November 2018 at the Wayback Machine, BBC News; accessed 12 August 2015.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

Civic offices
Preceded by Lord Mayor of Belfast
1988–1989		 Succeeded by
Reg Empey
Preceded by Lord Mayor of Belfast
1991–1992		 Succeeded by
Herbert Ditty
Party political offices
Preceded by General Secretary of the Democratic Unionist Party
1993–2008		 Succeeded by
Michelle McIlveen
Preceded by Deputy Leader of the Democratic Unionist Party
2008–2021		 Succeeded by
Paula Bradley
Preceded by Leader of the Democratic Unionist Party in the House of Commons
2010–present		 Incumbent
Northern Ireland Forum
New title Member of the Northern Ireland Forum
for North Belfast
1996–1998		 Forum dissolved
Northern Ireland Assembly
New title Member of the Legislative Assembly
for Belfast North
1998–2010		 Succeeded by
William Humphrey
Political offices
New office Minister for Social Development
1999–2000		 Succeeded by
Maurice Morrow
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
Arlene Foster
Preceded by Minister of Finance and Personnel
2008–2009		 Succeeded by
Sammy Wilson
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Belfast North
2001–2019		 Succeeded by
John Finucane
Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom
Preceded by Gentlemen
Baron Dodds of Duncairn		 Followed by
The Lord Hammond of Runneymede
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