Arlene Foster MLA
MLA
Incumbent
Assumed office  2003
Constituency	Fermanagh and South Tyrone
Born	July 3, 1970 (age 36) Northern Ireland
Political party	Democratic Unionist Party
Website	DUP profile

Cllr Arlene Isabel Foster (née Kelly) (b. July 1970) is a Northern Irish unionist politician. She is one of two Democratic Unionist Party MLAs representing the Fermanagh and South Tyrone constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly alongside Maurice Morrow). Image File history File links Dup. ... A Member of the Legislative Assembly, or MLA, is a representative elected by the voters of an electoral district to the Legislature or legislative assembly of a subnational jurisdiction. ... The incumbent, in politics, is the current holder of a political office. ... Fermanagh & South Tyrone is a Parliamentary Constituency in the British House of Commons and also an Assembly constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly. ... July 3 is the 184th day of the year (185th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 181 days remaining. ... 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1970 calendar). ... Motto:  (Latin for Who will separate us?)[1] Anthem: UK: God Save the Queen Regional: (de facto) Londonderry Air Capital Belfast Largest city Belfast Official language(s) English (de facto), Ulster Scots, Irish3, Northern Ireland Sign Language, Irish Sign Language Government Constitutional monarchy  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister of... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Motto:  (Latin for Who will separate us?)[1] Anthem: UK: God Save the Queen Regional: (de facto) Londonderry Air Capital Belfast Largest city Belfast Official language(s) English (de facto), Ulster Scots, Irish3, Northern Ireland Sign Language, Irish Sign Language Government Constitutional monarchy  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister of... Unionism, in the context of Ireland, is a belief in the continuation of the Act of Union 1800 (as amended by the Government of Ireland Act 1920) so that Northern Ireland (created by the 1920 Act) remains part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Fermanagh & South Tyrone is a Parliamentary Constituency in the British House of Commons and also an Assembly constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly. ... The Northern Ireland Assembly is a home rule legislature established in Northern Ireland under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, but currently under suspension. ... Maurice George Morrow, Baron Morrow (born 1948) is a Northern Irish unionist politician. ...

In addition, she is a member of the Northern Ireland Policing Board and a councillor on Fermanagh District Council representing Enniskillen. A solicitor by profession, she currently practices in Portadown, County Armagh. The Northern Ireland Policing Board is the Police Authority for Northern Ireland, charged with supervising the activities of the Police Service of Northern Ireland. ... Fermanagh District Council is a Local Council in County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. ... Coles Monument Enniskillen (Inis Ceithleann in Irish) is the county town (and largest town) of County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. ... A solicitor is a type of lawyer in many common law jurisdictions, such as the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Republic of Ireland, Australia New Zealand and Canada, but not the United States (in the United States the word has a quite different meaning—see below). ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 54. ... Statistics Province: Ulster County Town: Armagh Area: 1,254 km² Population (est. ...

Foster was raised near Lisnaskea in County Fermanagh. Her experience with the Troubles began early in her life. A bomb was discovered under a bus she was travelling to school in. A night-time attempt was made to shoot her father, a Royal Ulster Constabulary reservist, at her home. Lisnaskea (Lios na Scéithe in Irish) is a large village and the second largest settlement in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, and is the former seat of the ancient Maguire Kings. ... Statistics Province: Ulster County Town: Enniskillen Area: 1,691 km² Population (est. ... For the UK post-rock band, see Troubles (band). ... The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was name of the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. ...

She was educated at Queen's University, Belfast where she graduated with a LLB degree. It was at Queen's University where her political career began after joining the Queen's Ulster Unionist Party Association. She served as the association's chairwoman from 1992 to 1993. After leaving Queen's University, she remained active in the Ulster Unionist Party, chairing its youth wing, the Ulster Young Unionist Council, in 1995. In 1996, she became an Honorary Secretary of the UUP's ruling body, the Ulster Unionist Council, a position which she held until her resignation from the UUP on December 18, 2003. She joined the DUP on January 5, 2004. On March 14, 2006 she was nominated to the Northern Ireland Policing Board as one of the DUP's four appointees to the body. Queens University, Belfast - or officially The Queens University of Belfast (QUB; in Irish, Ollscoil na Banríona, Béal Feirste) - is a university in Belfast, Northern Ireland. ... The degree of Bachelor of Laws is the principal academic degree in law in most common law countries. ... The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP, sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or OUP or, in a historic sense, simply the Unionist Party ) is a moderate unionist political party in Northern Ireland, which formed its government between 1921 and 1972 and was supported by most unionists throughout the Troubles. ... The Ulster Young Unionist Council (Known as the Young Unionists) is the youth wing of the political party, the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP). ... The Northern Ireland Policing Board is the Police Authority for Northern Ireland, charged with supervising the activities of the Police Service of Northern Ireland. ...

She was elected as an Ulster Unionist in the 2003 Assembly elections, but shortly afterwards resigned from the party and joined the DUP, together with fellow Assembly members Jeffrey Donaldson and Norah Beare. She was selected as the DUP's candidate for Fermanagh & South Tyrone in the United Kingdom general election, 2005. Negotiations took place between the local branches of the DUP and UUP with the aim of finding an agreed unionist candidate. The negotiations broke down with neither party willing to accept the electoral dominance of the other; the UUP claiming Foster's defection to the DUP disguised the reality of the UUP's electoral strength, whilst the DUP pointed to change in the unionist political landscape following the 2003 Assembly election and 2004 European Parliament election. The UUP candidate was Tom Elliott. Foster finished second in the 2005 general election with 14,056 votes, 4,582 short of unseating the incumbent Sinn Féin MP Michelle Gildernew. This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Jeffrey Mark Donaldson (born 7 December 1962) is a Northern Irish politician and Member of Parliament for Lagan Valley. ... Norah Beare is a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Lagan Valley. ... The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005. ... Tom Elliott (born on December 11, 1963) is a Northern Irish unionist politician. ... Sinn Féin (pronounced in English, in Irish) is a name used by a series of Irish political movements of the 20th century, each of which claimed sole descent from the original party established by Arthur Griffith in 1905. ... Michelle Gildernew (born 28 March 1970) is an Irish republican politician. ...

Foster is married and has three children. She is a contributor to the political magazine Fortnight.