32 Facts About Lisa Chambers

Lisa Chambers was born on 24 August 1986 and is an Irish former Fianna Fail politician.

Lisa Chambers served as a senator from 2020 to 2025 and was leader of the Seanad from 2022 to 2025.

Lisa Chambers did not contest the 2025 Seanad election, and in January 2025 she announced her decision to leave public life.

Lisa Chambers practiced as a barrister, setting up her own legal practice in Castlebar.

Lisa Chambers was a member of the Reserve Defence Forces for 13 years, having first joined as a teenager.

Lisa Chambers was commissioned as an officer in the Army Reserve in November 2012, serving as a second lieutenant with the 1st Armoured Cavalry Squadron.

Lisa Chambers resigned her commission when elected to the Dail.

Lisa Chambers is unrelated to Fianna Fail politicians Frank Chambers and Jack Chambers.

Lisa Chambers ran at the 2011 general election for the Mayo constituency, but was eliminated on the fifth count.

Lisa Chambers was described as being part of Micheal Martin's effort to recruit young, progressive politicians and change the elderly, male-dominated image of Fianna Fail.

Lisa Chambers was elected to Mayo County Council at the 2014 local elections, recording the second-highest number of votes in the country.

Lisa Chambers was credited with spearheading the revival of Fianna Fail in the Castlebar area after the 2012 Mahon Tribunal report had discredited former minister Padraig Flynn.

At the 2016 general election, Lisa Chambers was elected as a Teachta Dala for the Mayo constituency.

Lisa Chambers was later given the Brexit portfolio in a reshuffle.

Lisa Chambers failed to win re-election to the Dail at the 2020 general election, losing a battle for the fourth seat in her constituency to Fine Gael's Alan Dillon.

At the 2020 Seanad election, Lisa Chambers was elected as a Senator for the Cultural and Educational Panel.

Lisa Chambers was Fianna Fail's spokesperson on European and Foreign Affairs in the Seanad.

Lisa Chambers chaired the Seanad Special Select Committee on the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union.

Lisa Chambers was appointed leader of the Seanad in December 2022.

Lisa Chambers's team alleged that Cowen's and Blaney's teams had asked party members not to vote for her, reassuring them that the party would put her on the ticket regardless.

Lisa Chambers received 5,584 first-preference votes and was eliminated on the seventh count.

In January 2025, Lisa Chambers announced that she would not contest the 2025 Seanad election and would leave public life.

Lisa Chambers was criticised for claiming, during a 29 November 2018 Dail debate on the Health Bill 2018, that "Abortion regret is made up and it does not exist".

In October 2019, Lisa Chambers became embroiled in controversy over voting irregularities.

The Oireachtas Committee on Members' Interests later determined that Lisa Chambers had "acted in good faith" and had voted "inadvertently".

In December, the Sunday Independent highlighted Oireachtas video recordings from 17January 2019 that appeared to show Lisa Chambers sitting in Timmy Dooley's seat for fifty minutes while seven votes were recorded; although not visible in the footage, votes were recorded from her own seat.

Lisa Chambers defended her preferred route as faster, since it avoided a number of small towns.

In 2020, the Irish Independent reported that Lisa Chambers had hired two of her sisters as secretarial assistants.

Lisa Chambers was among three senators reported to have hired family members for taxpayer-funded jobs, a practice described as controversial although not specifically proscribed.

Lisa Chambers faced criticism following the 2024 Irish constitutional referendums on Family and Care when she admitted to having voted No in both referendums, despite having been photographed and filmed canvassing for Yes votes.

Lisa Chambers was one of three senators who sponsored the controversial Hate Crime Bill 2020.

In May 2024, while Lisa Chambers was visiting a relative's home in a rural area near Castlebar, a man in his early 20s was discovered hiding in the bushes outside with his belt removed and several buttons on his trousers undone.