Diana Armstrong

Diana Armstrong (born February 1961) is a Northern Irish Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) politician who has served as deputy leader of the UUP since 31 January 2026. Armstrong has been a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Fermanagh and South Tyrone since September 2024.

Background Armstrong is the daughter of former UUP leader Harry West.

She was co-opted onto Fermanagh and Omagh District Council in June 2016, following Rosemary Barton's election to the Northern Ireland Assembly, where she represented the Erne North District. Armstrong went on to top the poll in the 2019 local elections, and was again re-elected in 2023.

Armstrong was the UUP candidate for Fermanagh and South Tyrone in the 2024 general election, the most marginal seat in the United Kingdom with a Sinn Féin majority of just 56 votes over the UUP. She finished in second place with 20,273 votes (39.7%) to Sinn Féin candidate Pat Cullen's 24,844 votes (48.6%).

Political career

Member of the Legislative Assembly On 27 September 2024, Armstrong was co-opted to replace Tom Elliott as Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Fermanagh and South Tyrone, after he was given a peerage in July as part of the dissolution honours list. She is the only female MLA of the nine MLAs the UUP has at Stormont.

Armstrong spoke of the importance of farming at the UUP's 2024 party conference, stating that "We recognise that farming is the backbone of our economy and will always work for farm families and rural dwellers to strive for better opportunities, accessibility and support..." She was announced by UUP leader Mike Nesbitt as the party's new Economy spokesperson.

Armstrong was announced as a candidate for deputy leader of the UUP in the 2026 leadership election, as the running mate of Jon Burrows. On January 15, 2026, Burrows was announced as the only candidate for the leadership, meaning Armstrong is expected to be ratified as the party's new deputy leader on 31 January 2025.