Michelle McIlveen

Michelle McIlveen MLA (born 21 January 1971) is a Northern Irish unionist politician, serving as Deputy Leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) since 2025 She has been a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Strangford since 2007. She is also the party's Spokesperson for Environment, Climate and Fisheries. McIlveen served as the Secretary of the DUP from 2008 until 2025. She has held a number of ministerial posts, most recently the Minister for Education from June 2021 to October 2022.

Early life and education

A native of Newtownards, she attended Methodist College Belfast and later Queen's University, Belfast where she took a master's degree in Irish Politics and later still a Postgraduate Certificate in Education, the necessary qualification to teach in most parts of the United Kingdom.

She taught History and Politics at Grosvenor Grammar School in East Belfast for a number of years before entering full-time politics. She also worked in her father's car dealership in Newtownards.

Political career McIlveen was first elected as a councillor to Ards Borough Council in 2005, representing the Newtownards District. She then became an MLA in the 2007 Assembly election for Strangford. In 2008, she became the DUP's secretary under the leadership of Peter Robinson.

McIlveen became the Junior Minister in the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister on 11 May 2015 until 28 October 2015.

She became the Minister for Regional Development on 21 September 2015. This post had been held by the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) minister Danny Kennedy until his party withdrew from the Northern Ireland Executive, and under the D'Hondt method the department was transferred to the DUP. McIlveen was appointed as minister for this department, with Emma Little-Pengelly replacing her as Junior Minister.

McIlveen then served as the Minister of Agriculture, Environment, and Rural Affairs from 2016 until the collapse of the Northern Ireland Executive in January 2017.

She represents a "centre ground" group of DUP MLAs and her support was critical in helping Edwin Poots win the May 2021 Democratic Unionist Party leadership election. During her tenure she most notably enacted the School Age Bill, allowing flexibility around the primary school starting age. She remained in the post under Sir Jeffrey Donaldson's leadership. However, Donaldson unsuccessfully plotted to remove McIlveen as a party officer.