Kate Nicholl

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The Right Honourable Councillor

Kate Nicholl
Born1988
Marondera, Zimbabwe
Alma materMethodist College Belfast
TitleLord Mayor of Belfast
TermJune 2021 - present
PredecessorFrank McCoubrey
Political partyAlliance Party of Northern Ireland
Websitekatenicholl.org

Kate Nicholl (born 1988) is a Northern Irish politician who is the current Lord Mayor of Belfast, Northern Ireland. She is a member of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland, and the first Lord Mayor in recent history not to be born in the United Kingdom or Ireland.[1]

Biography[]

Nicholl was born in Marondera, Zimbabwe.[2] Her father comes from County Down and her mother comes from South Africa, where her family was involved in anti-Apartheid politics.[3][4] They left Zimbabwe in 2000 when Kate was 12 after violence broke out, moving to Belfast.[4] She studied at Methodist College Belfast,[3] and worked as an advisor to the Alliance Party's Anna Lo. Before becoming Lord Mayor, she served as councillor in the Balmoral area of South Belfast. Initially co-opted onto the council, she was subsequently elected outright in 2019.[1]

She was sworn in as Lord Mayor on 1 June 2021, succeeding the Democratic Unionist Party's Frank McCoubrey.[4] One of her first policies on becoming Lord Mayor was focusing on the health and well-being of children, and wanted to bring the views of young people into meetings.[5] She has set a "monthly mayor's environmental challenge", working with organisations that improve the environment across Belfast. Nicholl intends to run as a candidate for Belfast South in the next assembly election.[1]

Nicholl believes being a non-native of Northern Ireland is a positive, as it gives her an outsider view on events.[4] In interviews, she has acknowledged the differences and conflict in Belfast, but hoped she would be able to unite people, saying "how the city – all of it – is ours".[3]

After her appointment as Lord Mayor, Nicholl was sexually harassed on social media over her condemnation of sexism and abuse on the Internet. She said Alliance party leader Naomi Long had faced similar harassment.[6]

Personal life[]

Nicholl is married and has one son.[1]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d Hughes, Brendan (1 June 2021). "New Belfast Lord Mayor Kate Nicholl's priorities for her year". BelfastLive.
  2. ^ "I have chosen Belfast as my home". BBC News. 11 May 2021. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  3. ^ a b c "New Belfast mayor Kate Nicholl pledges to build 'inclusive community relationships'". Irish News. 12 May 2021. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d "Alliance's Kate Nicholl installed as Belfast lord mayor". BBC News. 2 June 2021. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  5. ^ "New lord mayor of Belfast to focus on wellbeing of young people". Irish News. 2 June 2021. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  6. ^ "Belfast lord mayor Kate Nicholl says she had to limit social media due to receiving sexist messages". Belfast Live. 6 June 2021. Retrieved 10 June 2021.

External links[]

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