Emma Little-Pengelly facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Emma Little-Pengelly
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Official portrait, 2017
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| Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland | |
| Assumed office 3 February 2024 Serving with Michelle O'Neill
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| Preceded by | Michelle O'Neill (2022) |
| Member of the Legislative Assembly for Lagan Valley |
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| Assumed office 12 May 2022 |
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| Preceded by | Paul Rankin |
| Member of Parliament for Belfast South |
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| In office 8 June 2017 – 6 November 2019 |
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| Preceded by | Alasdair McDonnell |
| Succeeded by | Claire Hanna |
| Junior Minister at the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister | |
| In office 28 October 2015 – 25 May 2016 Serving with Jennifer McCann
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| Preceded by | Michelle McIlveen |
| Succeeded by | Alastair Ross |
| Member of the Legislative Assembly for Belfast South |
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| In office 28 September 2015 – 25 January 2017 |
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| Preceded by | Jimmy Spratt |
| Succeeded by | Seat abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Emma Little
31 December 1977 Markethill, County Armagh, Northern Ireland |
| Political party | Democratic Unionist Party |
| Spouse |
Richard Pengelly
(m. 2014) |
| Children | 3 stepchildren |
| Residences | Belfast, County Antrim |
| Alma mater | Queen's University Belfast |
| Profession | Barrister |
Emma Little-Pengelly (née Little; born 31 December 1977) is a Northern Irish barrister and Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician serving as deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland since February 2024. She has been a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) 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, following the 2022 election.
She previously served as the Member of Parliament (MP) 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.
Early life
Little-Pengelly is the daughter of Maureen Elizabeth Little and Noel Little. Her father also uses the name John Little. Noel Little was an Ulster Resistance paramilitary member, a former Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) soldier who was also the Armagh chairman of the Ulster Clubs. He was absent from her childhood between the ages of nine and eleven, following his arrest in Paris in April 1989 along with two other Ulstermen, a South African diplomat and an American arms dealer, who were meeting in a hotel in the French capital. A court later heard that the loyalists were trying to procure arms from South Africa in return for missile technology from Northern Ireland, where a model of one missile and parts of another one had gone missing from a Territorial Army depot in Newtownards and a Short factory in Belfast.
Little-Pengelly was educated at Markethill High School, Portadown College and Queen's University Belfast. She qualified as a barrister in 2003.
Political career
Little-Pengelly began her political career in 2007 as Special Advisor (Spad) 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. 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.
Little-Pengelly succeeded Jimmy Spratt as MLA for Belfast South in the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2015, following his retirement due to ill health. On 28 October 2015, Little-Pengelly was appointed as a junior minister in the Northern Ireland Executive Office. Little-Pengelly ran in the 2016 Assembly Election in the South Belfast constituency and was elected. She 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.
At the 2017 UK general election, Little-Pengelly became the MP for Belfast South, gaining the seat from the SDLP's Alasdair McDonnell. The former Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson was the chief strategist behind Little-Pengelly's campaign.She subsequently lost the seat to the SDLP's Claire Hanna at the 2019 general election.
On 12 May 2022, one week after the Northern Ireland Assembly election, DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson refused to take his seat in Stormont due to his opposition to the Northern Ireland Protocol. Little-Pengelly was co-opted to replace him, saying, "I have agreed to fill [Donaldson's] seat in Lagan Valley at this time both to support this work and to ensure a continued high level of support and service to the constituents of Lagan Valley. It is a privilege to be asked to fulfil this role at this important time for unionism and for Northern Ireland. While Sir Jeffrey focuses on that immediate task, I look forward to serving the people of Lagan Valley with passion and commitment."
Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland
On 3 February 2024, Little-Pengelly became deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland following the reestablishment of the Northern Ireland Executive. Her appointment marked the first time a unionist occupied the office of deputy First Minister.
Personal life
Little-Pengelly is married to Richard Pengelly, CB, who is the Permanent Secretary at the Department of Justice in Northern Ireland.
