# Emma Little-Pengelly
**Emma Little-Pengelly** (born 1979) is a Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician and qualified barrister who has served as deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland since 3 February 2024, sharing joint leadership of the devolved Executive with First Minister Michelle O'Neill of Sinn Féin.[1](https://aims.niassembly.gov.uk/mlas/details.aspx?aff=18981&c=2&per=5333) • [2](https://snl.no/Emma_Little-Pengelly) She previously sat in the House of Commons as MP for Belfast South from 8 June 2017 to 6 November 2019, and has twice entered the [Northern Ireland Assembly](https://www.edgepedia.org/northern-ireland-assembly) by co-option (appointed to a vacant legislative seat without an election) rather than election.[3](https://members.parliament.uk/member/4611/career) • [1](https://aims.niassembly.gov.uk/mlas/details.aspx?aff=18981&c=2&per=5333)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Current office | deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, 3 February 2024 to present, in The Executive Office[1](https://aims.niassembly.gov.uk/mlas/details.aspx?aff=18981&c=2&per=5333) |
| Party and seat | Democratic Unionist Party; MLA for Lagan Valley since 13 May 2022, replacing Sir Jeffrey Donaldson[1](https://aims.niassembly.gov.uk/mlas/details.aspx?aff=18981&c=2&per=5333) |
| Westminster | MP for Belfast South, 8 June 2017 to 6 November 2019; Shadow DUP Spokesperson for Equality, Justice, and International Trade[3](https://members.parliament.uk/member/4611/career) |
| Early career | Special advisor to First Minister Ian Paisley from 2007, continuing under Peter Robinson until 2015[2](https://snl.no/Emma_Little-Pengelly) |
| Education | Law at Queen's University Belfast; qualified as a barrister in 2003[2](https://snl.no/Emma_Little-Pengelly) |
| Family background | Daughter of Noel Little, a leader of the loyalist paramilitary group Ulster Resistance, arrested in Paris in 1989 for arms smuggling from South Africa[2](https://snl.no/Emma_Little-Pengelly) |
## Early life and family
Little-Pengelly was born in 1979 in [County Armagh](https://www.edgepedia.org/county-armagh) and grew up in the village of Markethill, in a Protestant unionist family.[2](https://snl.no/Emma_Little-Pengelly) Her father, Noel Little (also known as John Little), was a member of the [Orange Order](https://www.edgepedia.org/orange-order) and the DUP, a soldier in the locally recruited Ulster Defence Regiment, and one of the leaders of the loyalist paramilitary organization Ulster Resistance.[2](https://snl.no/Emma_Little-Pengelly) After his arrest in Paris in 1989 alongside several others, he was convicted for taking part in the smuggling of weapons from South Africa to loyalist paramilitaries.[2](https://snl.no/Emma_Little-Pengelly)
She has written that the arrest had a formative effect on her family: her father lost his job, was away from the family for some years, and the episode had what she described as a profound impact on their lives.[4](https://www.irishnews.com/news/northern-ireland/who-is-emma-little-pengelly-WU2ZAUIY5NDIRJFP2YZVAJCXVA/)
She attended Markethill High School and then Portadown College before studying law at [Queen's University Belfast](https://www.edgepedia.org/queens-university-belfast), qualifying as a barrister in 2003.[2](https://snl.no/Emma_Little-Pengelly) Her Assembly register of interests lists her continuing profession as a barrister-at-law.[1](https://aims.niassembly.gov.uk/mlas/details.aspx?aff=18981&c=2&per=5333)
## Special advisor, 2007–2015
Little-Pengelly entered politics in 2007 as a special advisor to [Ian Paisley](https://www.edgepedia.org/ian-paisley) when he became First Minister, and she remained in the post under his successor Peter Robinson until 2015.[2](https://snl.no/Emma_Little-Pengelly) • [5](https://www.politics.co.uk/people/emma-little-pengelly/) Describing that period in a 2018 House of Commons debate, she said she had worked in the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister, a joint office, and that part of her job was to seek agreement between the DUP and [Sinn Féin](https://www.edgepedia.org/sinn-fein) teams on every letter and policy leaving the Department for ministerial sign-off.[6](https://www.parliament.uk/documents/publications-records/House-of-Commons-Publications/BV_Commons_Vol_648.pdf)
## Assembly and Westminster career
In September 2015 the sitting DUP member for South Belfast stood down because of illness, and Little-Pengelly was co-opted to the seat on 28 September 2015, replacing Jimmy Spratt; weeks later, on 28 October 2015, she became a junior minister in the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister.[1](https://aims.niassembly.gov.uk/mlas/details.aspx?aff=18981&c=2&per=5333) • [2](https://snl.no/Emma_Little-Pengelly) She was elected for South Belfast to the Assembly in 2016 and chaired the Committee for Finance from May 2016 to January 2017.[1](https://aims.niassembly.gov.uk/mlas/details.aspx?aff=18981&c=2&per=5333) • [7](https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/foi-eir-release/2025/01-d/foi-202400444862/documents/foi-202400444862---information-released---annex/foi-202400444862---information-released---annex/govscot%3Adocument/FOI%2B202400444862%2B-%2BInformation%2BReleased%2B-%2BAnnex.pdf)
She lost the seat in the March 2017 Assembly election, when Belfast South's allocation was reduced from six seats to five; she was eliminated trailing her running mate, the late Christopher Stalford, by 15 votes.[4](https://www.irishnews.com/news/northern-ireland/who-is-emma-little-pengelly-WU2ZAUIY5NDIRJFP2YZVAJCXVA/) Three months later she took the constituency at Westminster, defeating the SDLP's Alasdair McDonnell in the June 2017 general election.[4](https://www.irishnews.com/news/northern-ireland/who-is-emma-little-pengelly-WU2ZAUIY5NDIRJFP2YZVAJCXVA/) In Parliament she served as Shadow DUP Spokesperson for Equality, for Justice, and for International Trade from 1 July 2017, and sat on the International Trade Committee and the Committees on Arms Export Controls.[3](https://members.parliament.uk/member/4611/career) She lost the seat to the SDLP's Claire Hanna at the December 2019 general election.[3](https://members.parliament.uk/member/4611/career) • [2](https://snl.no/Emma_Little-Pengelly)
In May 2022, after [Jeffrey Donaldson](https://www.edgepedia.org/jeffrey-donaldson) was elected to the Assembly for Lagan Valley and then declined the seat, Little-Pengelly was co-opted to replace him on 13 May 2022.[1](https://aims.niassembly.gov.uk/mlas/details.aspx?aff=18981&c=2&per=5333) • [2](https://snl.no/Emma_Little-Pengelly) During the DUP boycott of the institutions she acted as the party's legacy spokeswoman, describing the UK government's Troubles legacy bill, passed in the face of unanimous [Northern Ireland](https://www.edgepedia.org/northern-ireland) opposition, as "abhorrent".[8](https://apnews.com/article/51ca9c0e29b9dbd4dbfa12082f6cf2a5)
## Deputy First Minister
The DUP's boycott ended after the UK government published the *Safeguarding the Union* command paper in early 2024, offering measures on post-Brexit trade and a financial package reported at more than £3 billion.[9](https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-9954/CBP-9954.pdf) • [10](https://apnews.com/article/e50f09cf924379bc4b5d69df9f2462f9) Because Donaldson, the DUP leader, sat at [Westminster](https://www.edgepedia.org/westminster) rather than at Stormont, he could not take the post himself, and the party nominated Little-Pengelly as deputy First Minister.[9](https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-9954/CBP-9954.pdf) She affirmed the Pledge of Office on 3 February 2024, the same day [Michelle O'Neill](https://www.edgepedia.org/michelle-oneill) became the first nationalist First Minister.[1](https://aims.niassembly.gov.uk/mlas/details.aspx?aff=18981&c=2&per=5333) • [11](https://aims.niassembly.gov.uk/officialreport/report.aspx?docID=386860&eveDate=2024%2F02%2F03) • [10](https://apnews.com/article/e50f09cf924379bc4b5d69df9f2462f9)
The two offices are formally equal: neither First Minister nor deputy First Minister can govern without the other, and decisions on policy and attendance at significant events require consensus between them.[10](https://apnews.com/article/e50f09cf924379bc4b5d69df9f2462f9) • [12](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/first-minister-gavin-robinson-dup-cardiff-b3049975.html) In practice the joint office has produced friction as well as cooperation. Little-Pengelly accused O'Neill of "weaponizing" the role of First Minister by signing a pro-independence memorandum of understanding with the SNP and [Plaid Cymru](https://www.edgepedia.org/plaid-cymru), and the DUP argued O'Neill attended the Cardiff summit only in a party capacity.[13](https://apnews.com/article/4242b7fd6987520211562a2250f093a1) • [12](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/first-minister-gavin-robinson-dup-cardiff-b3049975.html) She also declined an invitation to the inauguration of Irish President Catherine Connolly in November 2025.[14](https://www.irishtimes.com/politics/2025/11/07/dups-emma-little-pengelly-will-not-attend-catherine-connolly-inauguration/)
On economic policy the two leaders have acted together, jointly pressing UK governments for a larger funding settlement for Northern Ireland; they met the Prime Minister to press for urgent action on the Executive's financial pressures, and Little-Pengelly sharply criticized a Treasury review of the Executive's budget, calling parts of its findings "absolutely preposterous".[15](https://www.executiveoffice-ni.gov.uk/news/first-minister-and-deputy-first-minister-meet-prime-minister-press-urgent-action-budget) • [16](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/treasury-northern-ireland-stormont-keir-starmer-scotland-b2961858.html)
## Political profile
Commentators describe Little-Pengelly as a conventional conservative DUP politician with a traditional unionist reading of the Troubles, while noting that she has engaged more strongly than earlier DUP figures on women's issues, including a 2023 [Georgetown University](https://www.edgepedia.org/georgetown-university) conference panel on women as leading figures in Northern Ireland since the [Good Friday Agreement](https://www.edgepedia.org/good-friday-agreement).[2](https://snl.no/Emma_Little-Pengelly) • [1](https://aims.niassembly.gov.uk/mlas/details.aspx?aff=18981&c=2&per=5333) Her husband, Richard Pengelly, was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Education Authority on 15 April 2024; he had served as a permanent secretary in the health and justice departments during the period when civil servants ran Northern Ireland in the absence of an Executive.[1](https://aims.niassembly.gov.uk/mlas/details.aspx?aff=18981&c=2&per=5333) • [2](https://snl.no/Emma_Little-Pengelly)
## References
1. [MLA Details: Mrs Emma Little-Pengelly, Northern Ireland Assembly AIMS portal](https://aims.niassembly.gov.uk/mlas/details.aspx?aff=18981&c=2&per=5333)
2. [Roar Madsen, "Emma Little-Pengelly", Store norske leksikon](https://snl.no/Emma_Little-Pengelly)
3. [Parliamentary career for Emma Little Pengelly, UK Parliament](https://members.parliament.uk/member/4611/career)
4. [Emma Little-Pengelly: Who is the new deputy first minister?, The Irish News](https://www.irishnews.com/news/northern-ireland/who-is-emma-little-pengelly-WU2ZAUIY5NDIRJFP2YZVAJCXVA/)
5. [Emma Little-Pengelly, Politics.co.uk](https://www.politics.co.uk/people/emma-little-pengelly/)
6. [Northern Ireland (Executive Formation and Exercise of Functions) Bill, 24 October 2018, Hansard](https://www.parliament.uk/documents/publications-records/House-of-Commons-Publications/BV_Commons_Vol_648.pdf)
7. [British-Irish Council Summit – Ministerial Biographies, Scottish Government FOI release](https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/foi-eir-release/2025/01-d/foi-202400444862/documents/foi-202400444862---information-released---annex/foi-202400444862---information-released---annex/govscot%3Adocument/FOI%2B202400444862%2B-%2BInformation%2BReleased%2B-%2BAnnex.pdf)
8. [Despite opposition, Britain passes law to curb prosecutions for Northern Ireland 'Troubles' violence, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/51ca9c0e29b9dbd4dbfa12082f6cf2a5)
9. [Northern Ireland devolution: Safeguarding the Union, House of Commons Library briefing CBP-9954](https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-9954/CBP-9954.pdf)
10. [Irish and UK leaders are in Belfast to celebrate the end of Northern Ireland's political deadlock, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/e50f09cf924379bc4b5d69df9f2462f9)
11. [Official Reports, Northern Ireland Assembly, 3 February 2024](https://aims.niassembly.gov.uk/officialreport/report.aspx?docID=386860&eveDate=2024%2F02%2F03)
12. [O'Neill accused of 'cosplaying' as First Minister at Cardiff independence summit, The Independent](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/first-minister-gavin-robinson-dup-cardiff-b3049975.html)
13. [United Kingdom's unity threatened by pact between Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/4242b7fd6987520211562a2250f093a1)
14. [DUP's Emma Little-Pengelly will not attend Catherine Connolly inauguration, The Irish Times](https://www.irishtimes.com/politics/2025/11/07/dups-emma-little-pengelly-will-not-attend-catherine-connolly-inauguration/)
15. [First Minister and deputy First Minister meet Prime Minister to press for urgent action on budget, The Executive Office](https://www.executiveoffice-ni.gov.uk/news/first-minister-and-deputy-first-minister-meet-prime-minister-press-urgent-action-budget)
16. [Parts of Treasury review 'absolutely preposterous', says Little-Pengelly, The Independent](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/treasury-northern-ireland-stormont-keir-starmer-scotland-b2961858.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Politics and government › Government and public administration › Politicians and government officeholders (biographies) › British politicians › Devolved and Northern Irish politicians*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 27, 2026; Sep 29, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 27, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license