Emma Little-Pengelly was born on 31 December 1979 and is a Northern Irish barrister and Democratic Unionist Party politician.
16 Facts About Emma Little-Pengelly
2.
Emma Little-Pengelly has been a Member of the Legislative Assembly for Lagan Valley since 12 May 2022 when she was co-opted to replace DUP party leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson who declined to take up his seat after being elected at the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election to remain in the House of Commons.
3.
Emma Little-Pengelly previously served as the Member of Parliament for the Belfast South constituency in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 2017 until 2019, when she lost her seat to Claire Hanna of the SDLP, and as an MLA for the Belfast South constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly.
4.
Emma Little-Pengelly was absent from her childhood between the ages of nine and eleven, following his arrest in Paris.
5.
Emma Little-Pengelly was educated at Markethill High School, Portadown College and Queen's University Belfast.
6.
Emma Little-Pengelly was a tutor and lectured at the University of Ulster from 2004 to 2006.
7.
Emma Little-Pengelly began her political career in 2007 as Special Advisor to the Reverend Ian Paisley, while he was in the office of First Minister, where she worked as part of the DUP talks team with victims of the Troubles.
8.
Emma Little-Pengelly remained in the position of Special Advisor when Peter Robinson assumed the office of First Minister in 2008 until 2015 after over 8 years in the position.
9.
Emma Little-Pengelly succeeded Jimmy Spratt as MLA for Belfast South in the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2015, following his retirement due to ill health.
10.
On 28 October 2015, Emma Little-Pengelly was appointed as a junior minister in the Northern Ireland Executive Office.
11.
Emma Little-Pengelly ran in the 2016 Assembly Election in the South Belfast constituency and was elected.
12.
Emma Little-Pengelly was appointed Chairperson of the Finance Committee following this election.
13.
Emma Little-Pengelly lost her seat at the 2017 Northern Ireland Assembly election, as the total number of seats in Belfast South was reduced from 6 to 5, trailing her running mate Christopher Stalford by 15 votes at the time of her elimination.
14.
At the 2017 UK general election, Emma Little-Pengelly became the MP for Belfast South, gaining the seat from the SDLP's Alasdair McDonnell.
15.
Emma Little-Pengelly subsequently lost the seat to the SDLP's Claire Hanna at the 2019 general election.
16.
Emma Little-Pengelly is married to Richard Pengelly, CB, who is the Permanent Secretary at the Department of Justice in Northern Ireland.