Jeffrey Donaldson was first elected to Parliament for Lagan Valley in 1997 for the Ulster Unionist Party. He later changed to the Democratic Unionist Party and was reelected in 2019 with a majority of 6,499.
The Lagan Valley constituency is found to the west of Belfast and is centred around the town of Lisburn. An overwhelmingly unionist area, this seat was formerly represented at Westminster by the long standing Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, Sir James Molyneaux.
Having himself defected from the UUP to the DUP in 2004, the constituency has followed the leanings of its local MP in recent years and aligned itself with the DUP. The DUP does though now face a mounting challenge from the cross community Alliance Party in Lagan Valley.
In June 2021, Jeffrey Donaldson became the Leader of the Democratic Unionist Party.
Donaldson had previously served as the Leader of the Democratic Unionist Party in the House of Commons.
In May 2022, Donaldson was elected briefly to the Northern Ireland Assembly. However, with the DUP coming second in the elections and the party relinquishing the right to the hold the First Minister’s post, Donaldson never took up his seat at Stormont, resigning it a week later. In this way Donaldson was able to remain an MP at Westminster, given rules prevent politicians serving consecutively in the Northern Ireland Assembly and in the House of Commons.
Initially in the light of Arlene Foster’s resignation, he stood for the leadership of the DUP as a whole in May 2021, but came second. He then put his name forward again after the short three week tenure of Foster’s successor, Edwin Poots, and was elected unopposed.
Donaldson was born in Kilkeel, County Down, in 1962. He attended the Kilkeel High School then Castlereagh College. He joined the Ulster Unionist Party and the Orange Order as a young man and later worked for the MP Enoch Powell.
Donaldson was later a corporal in the Ulster Defence Regiment. His cousin, Samuel Donaldson, was an RUC constable and the first policeman to be blown up by the IRA in the ‘Troubles
In 1998 Donaldson was part of the Ulster Unionists’ negotiating team for the Good Friday Agreement. However, he walked out of the delegation at the end of the negotiations in protest at some of the arrangements, notably the early release of political prisoners and the renaming of the Royal Ulster Constabulary to The Police Service of Northern Ireland.
Donaldson left the Ulster Unionist Party in January 2004 and defected to the DUP.
He was previously a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Lagan Valley between 2003 and 2010.
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson is Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Turkey; Formula One; the Union; War Heritage; Cameroon; and Columbia. He is Vice Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Groups on Bahrain; Gibraltar; Montserrat; North Korea; Poland; Christians in Parliament; Golf; International Freedom of Religion or Belief; Philately; Motorsport; Pro Life; Egypt; Etihopia and Djibouti; Retail Crime; Trade and Export Promotion; and Veterans
Email: donaldsonjm@parliament.uk
Personal Website: http://www.jeffreydonaldson.org/
Twitter: @J_Donaldson_MP
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/jeffrey.donaldson1
