The Rt. Hon. Jeffrey Donaldson MP

Jeffrey Mark Donaldson, MP was born in Kilkeel in Northern Ireland. He is a Northern Irish politician and Member of Parliament for Lagan Valley belonging to the Democratic Unionist Party. In 1985 he was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly, with the distinction of being the youngest person ever to win a seat at Stormont. In 1997, Mr. Donaldson was subsequently elected as a Member of the UK Parliament, for the Lagan Valley constituency. He was a senior member of the negotiating team in the Northern Ireland constitutional talks and a member of the DUP negotiating team, which participated in the negotiations under the Review of the Belfast Agreement. In 2003 he was re-elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly and following the renewal of devolution, Donaldson became Chairman of the Assembly and Executive Review Committee and a member of the Northern Ireland Policing Board. He subsequently became a Minister in the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister with special responsibility for a range of governmental issues, including Children and Young People, policy on older people, supporting the Victims of terrorism, as well as relations with the European Union. He also served on the Justice Committee in the Assembly. In 2007 he was appointed to Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, making him the Right Honourable Jeffrey Donaldson MP MLA. In May 2010, he was re-elected to Parliament for a fourth successive term and presently he is the Party Spokesperson in the House of Commons on Defence and Equality matters.