1. Kate Siobhan Nicholl was born on 4 May 1988 and is a Northern Irish politician for the Alliance Party, serving as a Member of the Legislative Assembly for Belfast South since 2022.
17 Facts About Kate Nicholl
1. 2.
Kate Nicholl was an unsuccessful candidate in the 2024 Alliance Party deputy leadership election.
3.
Kate Nicholl's father comes from County Down and her mother Helen comes from South Africa, where her family was involved in anti-Apartheid activism.
4.
Kate Nicholl studied at Methodist College Belfast, and worked as an advisor to the Alliance Party's Anna Lo.
5.
Kate Nicholl ran as one of two Alliance Party candidates, alongside Andrew Muir, for the constituency of Hollywood and Clandeboye in the North Down and Ards Borough Council, as a part of the 2014 local elections.
6.
Kate Nicholl placed sixth; missing out on the fifth seat by just under 200 votes to the DUP's Jennifer Gilmore.
7.
On 3 June 2016, Kate Nicholl was co-opted onto Belfast City Council to fill the vacant position left after Paula Bradshaw of the Alliance Party was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly in May 2016 to represent Belfast South.
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Kate Nicholl was sworn in as 79th Lord Mayor of Belfast on 1 June 2021, succeeding the Democratic Unionist Party's Frank McCoubrey.
9.
Kate Nicholl claimed that being a non-native of Northern Ireland was a positive personal attribute as it gave her an outsider view on events.
10.
Kate Nicholl said that Alliance Party leader Naomi Long had faced similar harassment.
11.
In December 2021, Kate Nicholl publicly stated her support for the legalisation of cannabis, as well as the introduction of supervised injection sites in Belfast.
12.
Kate Nicholl was chosen as one of two Alliance candidates for Belfast South at the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election, alongside Paula Bradshaw.
13.
On 7 May 2022, Kate Nicholl was the final candidate to be elected for Belfast South, edging out incumbent Green Party MLA Clare Bailey.
14.
Kate Nicholl is the first Zimbabwe-born MLA in Northern Ireland.
15.
Kate Nicholl gave birth to son, Cian Luca Sherry on 17 November 2019.
16.
On 30 May 2022, Kate Nicholl gave birth to a daughter named Etain Evelyn Sherry.
17.
Kate Nicholl was named after Nicholl's grandmother Evelyn, who was involved in anti-apartheid activism as a member of the Black Sash in South Africa.