Nigel Dodds

The Lord Dodds of Duncairn
Official portrait, 2017
Leader of the Democratic Unionist Party in the House of Lords
Assumed office
30 June 2021
LeaderJeffrey Donaldson
Gavin Robinson
Preceded byOffice established
Deputy Leader of the Democratic Unionist Party
In office
31 May 2008 – 28 May 2021
Leader
Preceded byPeter Robinson
Succeeded byPaula Bradley
Leader of the Democratic Unionist Party in the House of Commons
In office
6 May 2010 – 13 December 2019
Leader
  • Peter Robinson
  • Arlene Foster
Preceded byPeter Robinson
Succeeded byJeffrey Donaldson
Ministerial offices
Minister of Finance and Personnel
In office
5 June 2008 – 1 July 2009
First MinisterPeter Robinson
Preceded byPeter Robinson
Succeeded bySammy Wilson
Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment
In office
8 May 2007 – 5 June 2008
First Minister
Preceded byReg Empey
Succeeded byArlene Foster
Minister for Social Development
In office
24 October 2001 – 14 October 2002
First Minister
Preceded byMaurice Morrow
Succeeded byMargaret Ritchie
In office
21 November 1999 – 27 July 2000
First MinisterDavid Trimble
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byMaurice Morrow
Parliamentary offices
Member of the House of Lords
Life peerage
19 October 2020
Member of Parliament
for Belfast North
In office
7 June 2001 – 6 November 2019
Preceded byCecil Walker
Succeeded byJohn Finucane
Member of the Legislative Assembly
for Belfast North
In office
25 June 1998 – 10 September 2010
Preceded byConstituency established
Succeeded byWilliam Humphrey
Member of the Northern Ireland Forum
for Belfast North
In office
30 May 1996 – 25 April 1998
Local government offices
45th and 48th Lord Mayor of Belfast
In office
1 June 1991 – 1 June 1992
Preceded byFred Cobain
Succeeded byHerbert Ditty
In office
1 June 1988 – 1 June 1989
Preceded byJ.J. Dixon Gilmore
Succeeded byReg Empey
Member of Belfast City Council
In office
15 May 1985 – 5 May 2011
Preceded byDistrict created
Succeeded byLydia Patterson
ConstituencyCastle
Personal details
Born
Nigel Alexander Dodds

(1958-08-20) 20 August 1958 (age 66)
Derry, Northern Ireland
NationalityBritish
Political partyDemocratic Unionist Party
SpouseDiane Dodds
Children3
Alma materSt John's College, Cambridge
Queen's University of Belfast
ProfessionPolitician
WebsiteOfficial website

Nigel Alexander Dodds, Baron Dodds of Duncairn, OBE, PC (born 20 August 1958), is a Northern Irish unionist politician and barrister serving as Leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in the House of Lords since 2021. He previously served as deputy leader of the DUP from 2008 to 2021 and leader of the DUP in the House of Commons from 2010 to 2019.

Born in Derry and raised in County Fermanagh, Dodds originally practised as a barrister. He has been Lord Mayor of Belfast twice, and served as General Secretary of the DUP from 1993 to 2008. Dodds served as a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly from 1998 to 2010. He served in three ministerial portfolios in the Northern Ireland Executive, lastly as Minister of Finance and Personnel from 2008 to 2009, a position he assumed shortly after he became Deputy Leader.

He became Member of Parliament for the Belfast North constituency at the 2001 UK general election and served in that role until he was defeated by John Finucane of Sinn Féin in 2019. In July 2020, he was nominated for a peerage in the House of Lords and announced in September 2020 that he would take the title Lord Dodds of Duncairn.