27 Facts About Naomi Long

Naomi Rachel Long MLA is a Northern Irish politician who has served as Minister of Justice in the Northern Ireland Executive since February 2024, having previously served from January 2020 to October 2022.

Naomi Long has served as leader of the Alliance Party since 2016 and a Member of the Legislative Assembly for Belfast East since 2020.

Naomi Long resigned as an MLA after being elected as the Member of Parliament for Belfast East at the 2010 general election.

Naomi Long served for one parliamentary term and lost her seat to the Democratic Unionist Party at the 2015 general election.

Naomi Long returned to the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2016, before resigning for a second time after being elected as a Member of the European Parliament for Northern Ireland in 2019.

Naomi Long graduated from Queen's University of Belfast with a degree in civil engineering in 1994, worked in a structural engineering consultancy for two years, held a research and training post at Queen's University for three years, and then went back into environmental and hydraulic engineering consultancy for four years.

Naomi Long first took political office in 2001 when she was elected to Belfast City Council for the Victoria ward.

In 2003 Naomi Long was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly for Belfast East, succeeding her fellow party member John Alderdice.

Naomi Long became the second woman to hold the post, after Grace Bannister.

On 6 May 2010, Naomi Long defeated Peter Robinson, First Minister of Northern Ireland and leader of the DUP, to become Member of Parliament for Belfast East in the House of Commons.

Naomi Long became the first MP elected to Westminster for the Alliance Party.

Naomi Long became the first Liberal-affiliated MP elected to Westminster in Northern Ireland since James Brown Dougherty in Londonderry City in 1914.

On 10 December 2012, Naomi Long received a number of death threats and a petrol bomb was thrown inside an unmarked police car guarding her constituency office.

In 2015, Naomi Long lost her seat in the Commons to Gavin Robinson of the DUP, as a result of a five-party unionist pact in the constituency which saw the UUP, UKIP, TUV and PUP all stand aside in favour of Robinson.

Naomi Long contested the seat for Alliance at the next two elections, and was the unsuccessful Alliance PPC for Belfast East for the 2024 United Kingdom general election.

In January 2016, Naomi Long announced that she would return as an Assembly candidate in the 2016 elections having been nominated in place of incumbent Judith Cochrane.

In November 2016, Naomi Long criticised Sinn Fein and the DUP for delaying the publication of a working group report on abortion, which recommended legislative changes in cases of fatal foetal abnormality, calling on the Executive "to act without further delay to help women who decide to seek a termination in these very difficult circumstances".

On 26 October 2016, Naomi Long was elected Alliance leader unopposed following the resignation of David Ford.

Naomi Long pledged to oppose any rollback of the Human Rights Act.

Naomi Long hailed the "incredible result" as a watershed moment for politics in Northern Ireland.

Naomi Long then replaced Hendron in the Assembly with effect from 9 January 2020.

In 2019, Naomi Long became the first Northern Ireland politician to have served at every level of government.

In March 2022, Naomi Long told the Alliance Party Conference that "some politicians are addicted to crisis and conflict and simply not up to the job of actually governing".

Naomi Long led Alliance into the 2022 Assembly election on a platform of integrated education, health reform, a Green New Deal, tackling paramilitarism and reform of the Stormont institutions.

On 11 January 2020, following the restoration of the Northern Ireland Assembly after three years of stalemate, Naomi Long was elected Minister of Justice in the Northern Ireland Executive.

In June 2020, Naomi Long commissioned a review into the support available for prison officers following concerns about absence rates.

In November 2020, Naomi Long said she was seriously reconsidering her position within the Executive following the DUP's deployment of a cross-community vote to prevent an extension of COVID-19 regulations.