Naomi Long facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Naomi Long MLA
Official portrait, 2016
Minister of Justice
Incumbent
Assumed office 3 February 2024
First Minister	Michelle O'Neill
In office 11 January 2020 – 27 October 2022
First Minister	Arlene Foster Paul Givan Vacant
Preceded by	Claire Sugden
Leader of the Alliance Party
Incumbent
Assumed office 26 October 2016
Deputy	Stephen Farry Eóin Tennyson
Preceded by	David Ford
Deputy Leader of the Alliance Party
In office 18 February 2006 – 26 October 2016
Leader	David Ford
Preceded by	Eileen Bell
Succeeded by	Stephen Farry
Member of the Legislative Assembly for Belfast East
Incumbent
Assumed office 9 January 2020
Preceded by	Máire Hendron
In office 5 May 2016 – 1 July 2019
Preceded by	Judith Cochrane
Succeeded by	Máire Hendron
In office 26 November 2003 – 5 July 2010
Preceded by	John Alderdice
Succeeded by	Chris Lyttle
Member of the European Parliament for Northern Ireland
In office 2 July 2019 – 31 January 2020
Preceded by	Jim Nicholson
Succeeded by	Constituency abolished
Member of Parliament for Belfast East
In office 6 May 2010 – 30 March 2015
Preceded by	Peter Robinson
Succeeded by	Gavin Robinson
66th Lord Mayor of Belfast
In office 1 June 2009 – 1 June 2010
Deputy	Danny Lavery
Preceded by	Tom Hartley
Succeeded by	Pat Convery
Member of the Belfast City Council for Victoria Ward
In office 7 June 2001 – 26 August 2010
Preceded by	Danny Dow
Succeeded by	Laura McNamee
Personal details
Born	Naomi Rachel Johnston (1971-12-13) 13 December 1971 (age 53) Belfast, Northern Ireland
Political party	Alliance
Spouse	Michael Long ​ (m. 1995)​
Relations	Adrian Long (father-in-law)
Alma mater	Queen's University Belfast
Awards	BBC 100 Women (2022)

Naomi Rachel Long (born December 13, 1971) is an important politician from Northern Ireland. She has been the Minister of Justice in the Northern Ireland Executive since February 2024. She also held this role from January 2020 to October 2022.

Naomi Long has been the leader of the Alliance Party since 2016. She is also a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Belfast East since 2020.

Before these roles, she was the Lord Mayor of Belfast from 2009 to 2010. She was also an MLA for Belfast East from 2003 to 2010. In 2010, she became a Member of Parliament (MP) for Belfast East. She served in the UK Parliament until 2015.

Naomi Long returned to the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2016. Later, in 2019, she was elected as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Northern Ireland. After the United Kingdom left the European Union in 2020, she became an MLA again. She was then appointed Minister of Justice.

Early Life and Education

Naomi Long was born in east Belfast. She went to Mersey Street Primary and Bloomfield Collegiate School. In 1994, she earned a degree in civil engineering from Queen's University Belfast.

After university, she worked in engineering for several years. She worked for two years in a company that designs structures. Then, she spent three years doing research at Queen's University. After that, she worked for four years in companies that focus on environmental engineering and water systems.

Political Journey

Naomi Long began her political career in 2001. She was elected to the Belfast City Council for the Victoria ward. In 2003, she became a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Belfast East. She took over from John Alderdice, another member of her party.

In 2006, she became the deputy leader of the Alliance Party. During the 2007 election, she greatly increased her party's votes in her area. She came in second place, showing strong support.

On June 1, 2009, Naomi Long was chosen as the Lord Mayor of Belfast. She was the second woman ever to hold this important position.

Serving in the UK Parliament

On May 6, 2010, Naomi Long made history. She won the election to become a Member of Parliament (MP) for Belfast East. She defeated Peter Robinson, who was the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party and the First Minister of Northern Ireland.

This was a big moment because she was the first MP from the Alliance Party to be elected to the UK Parliament. She served for one term. In the 2015 election, she lost her seat. This happened because several other parties in her area supported one candidate against her.

She ran for the same seat in the 2017 and 2019 elections but was not elected. She also ran in the 2024 United Kingdom general election.

Returning to the Northern Ireland Assembly

In January 2016, Naomi Long decided to run for the Northern Ireland Assembly again. She was elected in the 2016 elections. After returning, she joined several important groups. These included the Committee for Communities and groups focused on Fair trade, Housing, and STEM.

Leading the Alliance Party

On October 26, 2016, Naomi Long was chosen as the leader of the Alliance Party. She was the only candidate for the role. Under her leadership, the party aims to build a "united, open, liberal and progressive" society.

Her party has important goals. They want to make equality and anti-discrimination laws stronger. They also support marriage equality and developing integrated education. Another key goal is to create a plan for Northern Ireland to deal with climate change.

In the 2017 Assembly election, Naomi Long received the most votes in Belfast East. The Alliance Party did very well in this election. They increased their share of votes and kept all their seats. This meant the party had an important role in how decisions were made at Stormont.

In the 2019 local elections, the Alliance Party saw a big increase in its number of local council members. Naomi Long called this an "incredible result."

In May 2019, Long was elected to the European Parliament for Northern Ireland. This was the best result ever for the Alliance Party in a European election. She later returned to the Assembly in January 2020.

In 2019, Naomi Long became the first politician from Northern Ireland to have served at every level of government. This includes local council, the Northern Ireland Assembly, the UK Parliament, and the European Parliament.

In March 2022, Naomi Long spoke at the Alliance Party Conference. She said that some politicians focus too much on problems and arguments. She believes they are not good at actually running the government. She led the Alliance Party into the 2022 Assembly election. Her party's goals included improving integrated education and health care. They also wanted to work on a Green New Deal and reform the government.

Minister of Justice Role

On January 11, 2020, the Northern Ireland Assembly started working again after three years. Naomi Long was then chosen as the Minister of Justice.

As Minister of Justice, she has worked on important new laws. In January 2020, she announced plans for a new law on domestic abuse. This law would make controlling behavior a crime in Northern Ireland. In June 2020, she also looked into support for prison officers. She also planned to introduce new ways to find and stop money from illegal activities.

Personal Life

Naomi Long is a member of Bloomfield Presbyterian Church. She has shared her concerns about some of the Church's rules. She is married to Michael Long. He is also an Alliance Party councillor on Belfast City Council. He was also a former Lord Mayor of Belfast. Naomi and Michael Long are the first husband and wife to have both served as Lord Mayors of Belfast.

In August 2017, Naomi Long shared that she had been dealing with endometriosis. She underwent surgery for this health condition.

Electoral Information

Naomi Long has run in many elections. She has sought to represent people in the UK Parliament, the Northern Ireland Assembly, and the European Parliament.

• UK Parliament Elections: She ran for the Belfast East seat multiple times. She was elected in 2010.
• Northern Ireland Assembly Elections: She has been elected as an MLA for Belfast East several times, starting in 2003.
• European Parliament Election: In 2019, she was elected as an MEP for Northern Ireland.