1. Diane Dodds served as a Member of the European Parliament for the Northern Ireland constituency from 2009 to 2020.
15 Facts About Diane Dodds
1. 2.
Diane Dodds previously sat in the Northern Ireland Assembly from 2003 to 2007 as MLA for West Belfast.
3.
In 2020, Dodds returned to the Assembly as MLA for Upper Bann and is the DUP's Spokesperson for Education and Skills.
4.
Diane Dodds is married to Lord Dodds of Duncairn, and as such she is styled as "The Right Honourable The Lady Dodds of Duncairn".
5.
Diane Dodds was born into a farming family in Rathfriland, County Down, where she attended Banbridge Academy before moving on to study at Queen's University Belfast.
6.
In 2003, Diane Dodds was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly to represent Belfast West.
7.
Diane Dodds was the first Unionist elected to a regional assembly from West Belfast in more than 20 years.
8.
Diane Dodds has been active within Belfast City Council, where she was Chief Whip of the 14-councillor DUP group.
9.
Diane Dodds chaired the Policy and Resources Committee on the council and actively supported a campaign to host a homecoming parade for the Royal Irish Regiment and other armed forces returning home from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
10.
On 3 February 2009, Diane Dodds was selected by the DUP as its candidate for the 2009 election to the European Parliament and was elected an MEP on 8 June, representing Northern Ireland.
11.
Diane Dodds was elected third, behind Jim Nicholson of the UUP, and with fewer votes than the quota.
12.
In September 2018, Diane Dodds voted against a motion asserting the "existence of a clear risk of a serious breach by Hungary of the values on which the Union is founded" - in line with most UKIP and Conservative Party MEPs.
13.
The DUP announced that following Carla Lockhart's election to the House of Commons in December 2019, Diane Dodds would succeed her as MLA for Upper Bann.
14.
In January 2020, Diane Dodds was elected to the position of MLA for Upper Bann.
15.
Diane Dodds took on the MLA role full-time after the UK left the European Union on 31 January 2020.