Michael Long (Northern Ireland politician)

Last updated

Naomi Johnston
​
(m. 1995)​
[5]
Cllr
Michael Long
Cllr Michael Long 2010.JPG
Long in 2010
80th Lord Mayor of Belfast
In office
9 May 2022 [1]  –1 June 2022
Parent(s) Adrian Long
Elaine Long
OccupationPolitician

Michael Andrew Long is a politician from Northern Ireland who served as the 80th Lord Mayor of Belfast from 9 May 2022 to 1 June 2022, finishing the remaining three weeks of Kate Nicholl's term after she was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly in May 2022. [1] Long has served as leader of the Alliance Party on Belfast City Council, and a Belfast City Councillor for the Lisnasharragh DEA since 2014.

Contents

Early life and education

Michael Long was born in Kingston, Ontario in Canada to mother Elaine and father Adrian. [4]

Political career

Member of Belfast City Council (2014-)

In May 2014, Long was elected to Belfast City Council to represent the constituency of Lisnasharragh. [6] Long would become the leader of Alliance in Belfast City Council.

Lord Mayor of Belfast (2022)

In May 2022, incumbent Lord Mayor of Belfast Kate Nicholl was elected as an Alliance MLA for Belfast South. Her term was due to end on 1 June but was cut short due to rules prohibiting double-jobbing [7] that forbid her from remaining as Lord Mayor of Belfast after being elected to the Assembly. [8]

Michael Long was installed as the 80th Lord Mayor of Belfast on 9 May 2022 to serve the remaining three weeks in Nicholl's term. Long's three-week tenure made him the shortest serving Lord Mayor of Belfast. [9] He is also the first spouse of a former Lord Mayor of Belfast to also serve in the post. [10] Long's wife Naomi held the position from June 2009 to June 2010. When Long was installed as Lord Mayor on 9 May 2022, he spoke in both English and Irish and said that his predecessor was an "inspiration". Following on from Kate Nicholl, who was born in Zimbabwe, Long was the second Lord Mayor of Belfast in a row to be foreign-born. [4]

On 1 June 2022, Long was succeeded by Tina Black of Sinn Féin as Lord Mayor of Belfast. [2]

Personal life

Long met his wife Naomi when they were teenagers and they married in 1995. [4]

Naomi is the current leader of the Alliance Party, and a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Belfast East.

On 23 April 2022, Long's father Adrian, a civil engineer, died. [11] His funeral was held on 5 May, the same day as the 2022 Assembly election. [12]

Related Research Articles

The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland, or simply Alliance, is a liberal and centrist political party in Northern Ireland. Following the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election, it was the third-largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly, holding seventeen seats, and broke through by placing third in first preference votes in the 2019 European Parliament election and polling third-highest regionally at the 2019 UK general election. The party won one of the three Northern Ireland seats in the European Parliament, and one seat, North Down, in the House of Commons, the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Belfast City Council</span> Local authority in Northern Ireland

Belfast City Council is the local authority with responsibility for part of Belfast, the largest city of Northern Ireland. The council serves an estimated population of 348,005 (2022), the largest of any district council in Northern Ireland, while being the smallest by area. Belfast City Council is the primary council of the Belfast Metropolitan Area, a grouping of six former district councils with commuter towns and overspill from Belfast, containing a total population of 579,276.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naomi Long</span> Northern Irish politician (born 1971)

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. She has served as leader of the Alliance Party since 2016 and a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Belfast East since 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alex Maskey</span> Northern Irish politician

Alex Maskey is an Irish former politician who served as Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly from 2020 to 2024 and was the first member of Sinn Féin to serve as Lord Mayor of Belfast from 2002 to 2003. He was Sinn Féin's longest sitting councillor, representing the Laganbank electoral area of Belfast. He was also an MLA for Belfast West for two periods, and also for Belfast South. He reportedly retired "from frontline politics" in early 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Rodgers (politician)</span> British politician (born 1950)

Jim RodgersOBE (b.1943) is a Northern Irish unionist politician who was Lord Mayor of Belfast from 2001 to 2002, and again from 2007 to 2008. Rodgers also served as the High Sheriff of Belfast from 2016 to 2017. A member of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), he has been a Belfast City Councillor for the Ormiston DEA since 1993. Additionally, Rodgers is an appointed Alderman on the council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Copeland (politician)</span> Former unionist MLA from Northern Ireland (born 1954)

Michael Copeland is a former Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) politician, who was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for East Belfast from 2003 to 2007, and then from 2010 to 2015.

Eric Smyth is a Northern Irish Unionist politician and Presbyterian minister.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 Northern Ireland Assembly election</span>

The 2016 Northern Ireland Assembly election was held on Thursday, 5 May 2016. It was the fifth election to take place since the devolved assembly was established in 1998. 1,281,595 individuals were registered to vote in the election. Turnout in the 2016 Assembly election was 703,744 (54.9%), a decline of less than one percentage point from the previous Assembly Election in 2011, but down 15 percentage points from the first election to the Assembly held in 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sammy Douglas</span>

Sammy Douglas is a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician, serving as the High Sheriff of Belfast since 2024, and a Belfast City Councillor for the Titanic DEA since 2023. Douglas was previously a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Belfast East from 2011 to 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Máirtín Ó Muilleoir</span> Irish politician (born 1949)

Máirtín Ó Muilleoir is an Irish Sinn Féin politician, author, publisher, and businessman, who served as the 70th Lord Mayor of Belfast from 2013 to 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paula Bradshaw</span> Politician from Northern Ireland

Paula Jane Bradshaw is an Alliance Party of Northern Ireland politician. She has been a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for South Belfast since the 2016 election and in 2024 was appointed Alliance Party Chief Whip.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election</span> Election held in Northern Ireland

The 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election was held on 5 May 2022. It elected 90 members to the Northern Ireland Assembly. It was the seventh assembly election since the establishment of the assembly in 1998. The election was held three months after the Northern Ireland Executive collapsed due to the resignation of the First Minister, Paul Givan of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), in protest against the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Máire Hendron is an Alliance Party politician who was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Belfast East from 2019 to 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Finucane</span> Northern Irish politician (born 1980)

John Finucane is an Irish Sinn Féin politician and solicitor. He has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Belfast North since the 2019 general election. He has never taken his seat in Westminster, due to his party's longstanding policy of abstentionism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David K. Alderdice</span> Former Lord Mayor of Belfast (born 1966)

David King Alderdice, OBE, FRCPI is a Northern Irish politician, doctor, and clergyman who was the Lord Mayor of Belfast and is President of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kate Nicholl</span> Northern Irish politician (born 1988)

Kate Siobhan Nicholl is a Northern Irish politician for the Alliance Party, serving as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Belfast South since 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danny Baker (politician)</span> Northern Ireland MLA

Daniel Baker is an Irish Sinn Féin politician who has been a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Belfast West since 2022.

Patricia O'Lynn is a Northern Irish academic, educator, and politician who was an Alliance Party Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from 2022 to 2023. She was elected as an MLA in the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election for North Antrim.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter McReynolds</span> Alliance Party of Northern Ireland MLA

Peter McReynolds is a Northern Irish politician who is an Alliance Party Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA). He was elected as an MLA in the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election for Belfast East.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nuala McAllister</span> Alliance Party of Northern Ireland MLA

Nuala McAllister is a Northern Irish politician who is an Alliance Party Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA). She was elected as an MLA in the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election for Belfast North.

References

  1. 1 2 "Councillor Michael Long installed as Lord Mayor of Belfast". Belfast City Council. 9 May 2022. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
  2. 1 2 Simpson, Mark (1 June 2022). "Sinn Féin's Tina Black elected as Belfast Lord Mayor". BBC News. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  3. ↑ "The Rt. Hon. the Lord Mayor, Councillor Michael Long". Belfast City Council. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Simpson, Mark (9 May 2022). "Alliance: Michael Long makes history as three-week mayor". BBC News. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  5. ↑ Naomi Long MLA [@naomi_long] (26 September 2020). "So, not the Silver Wedding anniversary we planned" (Tweet). Retrieved 18 May 2022– via Twitter.
  6. ↑ "Local Council Elections 2014 - Results by Stage". The Electoral Office for Northern Ireland. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
  7. ↑ McClafferty, Enda (16 January 2022). "Double jobbing: How dual mandates became an NI political problem". BBC News. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
  8. ↑ Kate Nicholl [@KateNicholl] (8 May 2022). "When I was declared an MLA, I stopped being Lord Mayor (3 weeks early!) I've had the best year meeting so many extraordinary people & witnessing all the good in our city. Thank you Belfast for the privilege of a lifetime ❤ #OurBelfast" (Tweet). Retrieved 8 May 2022– via Twitter.
  9. ↑ Corscadden, Jane (9 May 2022). "Alliance's Michael Long set to 'make history' as Belfast mayor for three weeks". BelfastLive. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
  10. ↑ Fox, Matt (9 May 2022). "Alliance Party's Naomi and Michael Long to make history as first couple to hold Belfast lord mayor office". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
  11. ↑ Lynch, Connor (24 April 2022). "Tributes paid to father of Belfast Alliance councillor Michael Long". BelfastLive. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
  12. ↑ Fox, Matt (5 May 2022). "Naomi Long attends father-in-law's funeral on election day as tributes flood in for Professor Adrian Long". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.