Kate Nicholl

Kate Siobhan Nicholl (born May 1988) is a Northern Irish politician who has served as the 67th Lord Mayor of Belfast since June 2021. 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.[4]

The Right Honourable Councillor
Kate Nicholl
67th Lord Mayor of Belfast
Assumed office
1 June 2021
Preceded byFrank McCoubrey
Member of
Belfast City Council
Assumed office
7 May 2019[1]
ConstituencyBalmoral
Personal details
Born
Kate Siobhan Nicholl

May 1988
Marondera, Zimbabwe
Political partyAlliance
Spouse(s)
Fergal Sherry
​
(m. 2018)​
Children1
EducationMethodist College Belfast
Alma materUniversity College London (BSc)[2]
Ulster University[3]
Websitekatenicholl.org

Biography

Nicholl was born in Marondera, Zimbabwe.[5] Her father comes from County Down and her mother comes from South Africa, where her family was involved in anti-Apartheid politics.[6][7] They left Zimbabwe in 2000 when Kate was 12 after violence broke out, moving to Belfast.[7] She studied at Methodist College Belfast,[6] 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.[4]

She was sworn in as Lord Mayor on 1 June 2021, succeeding the Democratic Unionist Party's Frank McCoubrey.[7] 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.[8] She has set a "monthly mayor's environmental challenge", working with organisations that improve the environment across Belfast.

Nicholl believes being a non-native of Northern Ireland is a positive, as it gives her an outsider view on events.[7] 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".[6] 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 that Alliance party leader Naomi Long had faced similar harassment.[9]

Nicholl was chosen as one of two Alliance candidates for Belfast South at the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election, alongside Paula Bradshaw.[10]

Personal life

Nicholl is married and has one son.[4]

References
  1. "The Rt. Hon. the Lord Mayor, Councillor Kate Nicholl". Belfast City Council. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  2. "Kate Nicholl". The Alan Turing Institute. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  3. "Belfast Lord Mayor Kate Nicholl shares thoughts on new Belfast campus". Ulster University. 23 March 2022. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  4. Hughes, Brendan (1 June 2021). "New Belfast Lord Mayor Kate Nicholl's priorities for her year". BelfastLive.
  5. "I have chosen Belfast as my home". BBC News. 11 May 2021. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  6. "New Belfast mayor Kate Nicholl pledges to build 'inclusive community relationships'". Irish News. 12 May 2021. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  7. "Alliance's Kate Nicholl installed as Belfast lord mayor". BBC News. 2 June 2021. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  8. "New lord mayor of Belfast to focus on wellbeing of young people". The Irish News. 2 June 2021. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  9. "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.
  10. Paula Bradshaw MLA [@PaulaJaneB] (27 October 2021). "So it's official, @KateNicholl and I were selected by the South Belfast Alliance Association this evening as their candidates for next year's Assembly Elections!" (Tweet). Retrieved 8 April 2022 – via Twitter.
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