Órfhlaith Begley

Órfhlaith Begley (/ˈoʊrlə ˈbɛɡliː/; born 19 December 1991) is an Irish Sinn Féin politician. She is the abstentionist Member of Parliament (MP) for the West Tyrone constituency of the British House of Commons, having won the seat in a by-election on 3 May 2018.

Órfhlaith Begley
Begley speaking, 2019
Member of Parliament
for West Tyrone
Assumed office
3 May 2018
Preceded byBarry McElduff
Majority7,478 (18.2%)
Personal details
Born (1991-12-19) 19 December 1991
Carrickmore, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland
Political partySinn Féin
Alma materQueen's University Belfast

Early life and career

Begley was born on 19 December 1991 in Carrickmore, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. She is the daughter of former Sinn Féin Omagh District Council chairman Seán Begley.[1] Begley grew up in Carrickmore, and played Gaelic football at the local club.[2] She studied Law and Politics at the Queen's University Belfast.[3] She then studied at the Institute of Professional and Legal Studies, graduating as a solicitor. Begley then worked as a solicitor in Portadown, County Armagh with her brother.[2]

Political career

Begley was selected as the Sinn Féin candidate for West Tyrone in the 2018 West Tyrone by-election on 26 February. The by-election had been called following the resignation of the previous Sinn Féin MP Barry McElduff on 15 January.[1] She was elected with a majority of 7,956 votes.[4] Begley was the first female MP to represent the constituency since it was created in 1997. She does not sit in the House of Commons per the party's longstanding policy of abstentionism.[3]

She supported the United Kingdom (UK) remaining within the European Union (EU) in the 2016 UK EU membership referendum.[5]

References
  1. Bell, Jonathan (26 February 2018). "Sinn Fein picks solicitor Orfhlaith Begley (26) to fight candidate West Tyrone by-election". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  2. Breen, Suzanne (5 May 2018). "Party's latest female face ticks right boxes but has to up game". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  3. "Órfhlaith Begley profile: Who is the new West Tyrone MP?". BBC News. 4 May 2018. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  4. "SF's Begley wins West Tyrone by-election". BBC News. 4 May 2018. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  5. "How MPs voted on May's withdrawal deal defeat". Financial Times. 29 March 2019. Archived from the original on 2 September 2019.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Barry McElduff		 Member of Parliament
for West Tyrone
2018–present		 Incumbent
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