Elisha McCallion

Elisha McCallion (née McLaughlin; born 21 October 1982) is an Irish Sinn Féin politician who has been a Senator for the Industrial and Commercial Panel since April 2020.[1] McCallion was previously a UK Member of Parliament (MP) for Foyle from 2017 to 2019, a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Foyle in the Northern Ireland Assembly from March to June 2017, and Mayor of Derry.

Senator

Elisha McCallion
McCallion in 2015
Senator
Assumed office
April 2020
ConstituencyIndustrial and Commercial Panel
Member of Parliament
In office
8 June 2017 – 6 November 2019
Preceded byMark Durkan
Succeeded byColum Eastwood
ConstituencyFoyle
Member of the Legislative Assembly
In office
2 March 2017 – 8 June 2017
Preceded byMartin McGuinness
Succeeded byKaren Mullan
ConstituencyFoyle
Personal details
Born
Elisha McLaughlin

(1982-10-21) 21 October 1982
Derry, Northern Ireland
Political partySinn Féin
Spouse(s)
Declan McCallion
(
m. 2009)
Children3

Early life

Elisha McLaughlin was born on 21 October 1982 in Galliagh, Derry, Northern Ireland, and grew up there in a republican family; her aunt is Martina Anderson.[2][3][4] Her father is a painter and decorator, and her mother is a former bar manager. She has a brother and a sister.[5] McLaughlin attended Galliagh Nursery School, Lenamore Primary School (now St. Therese's Primary School), and Thornhill College in Derry.[6]

She joined the Sinn Féin's youth wing Ógra Shinn Féin at the age of 15 and reports that the Drumcree conflict prompted her interest in politics. She went on to study Irish History and Politics at the further education college North West Regional College, and complete a bachelor's degree in Community Development at Ulster University. Her first job as at the Galliagh Independent Advice Service from which she went on to work for the Galliagh Development Trust and the Galliagh Women's Group.[6]

Political career

McLaughlin was elected as a Sinn Féin councillor for Shantallow on Derry City Council in 2005 aged just 23. She was re-elected in 2011 and in 2015 she became the first Mayor of Derry & Strabane.[7][8] She married in 2009 and adopted her husband's surname McCallion in 2011.[9]

McCallion supported the United Kingdom (UK) remaining within the European Union (EU) in the 2016 UK EU membership referendum.[10] In March 2017, she was elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Foyle winning the seat previously held by former deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness.[11][12] She resigned as an MLA in June to stand as an MP in the 2017 general election.[13]

She became the MP for Foyle in the 2017 general election with a majority of 169 votes.[14] The seat had previously been represented by former leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) Mark Durkan since 2005, and had been represented by the founder of the SDLP John Hume prior to this from its formation in 1983. McCallion was the first female MP to represent the constituency.[15][16] She did not sit in the House of Commons per Sinn Féin's longstanding policy of abstentionism.[17] She was defeated by Colum Eastwood, the current leader of the SDLP, in the 2019 general election by a majority of 17,110 (36.3%).[18]

In April 2020 she was elected to the 26th Seanad in the Republic of Ireland as a Senator, topping the poll on the Industrial and Commercial Panel with 95,000 votes on the first count.[19]

Personal life

She married Declan McCallion in 2009. He works as a welder. She chose to take on his surname in 2011. They have three sons.[5][6][9]

References
  1. "Elisha McCallion". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  2. McCausland, Nelson (30 November 2017). "Praise for the IRA at its ard fheis shows why Sinn Féin is far from being a normal party". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 5 November 2019.(subscription required)
  3. "Elisha finds the perfect balance". Derry Journal. 25 January 2012. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  4. Claire Simpson (31 January 2020). "Elisha McCallion front-runner to replace Raymond McCartney in Foyle". Irish News. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  5. McKittrick, Kerry (30 October 2015). "My People with Mayor of Derry City, Elisha McCallion". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  6. "Ain't seen nothing like a Galliagh girl". Derry Journal. 24 May 2015. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  7. "Derry City Council Elections 1993-2011". Northern Ireland Social and Political Archive. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  8. Morris, Allison (10 January 2017). "Ex-Derry mayor Elisha McCallion may replace Martin McGuinness as Foyle MLA". The Irish News. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  9. "It's all in a name for Sinn Fein's Elisha". Derry Journal. 30 September 2011. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  10. McCallion, Elisha (5 December 2017). "As a Sinn Fein MP, I won't have Ireland become collateral damage in the Tory-DUP Brexit shambles". The Independent. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  11. McKinney, Seamus (17 April 2017). "Headstone records Martin McGuinness's IRA and political past". The Irish News. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  12. McClements, Freya (9 May 2017). "Sinn Féin seeks to pull off a historic upset in Foyle". The Irish Times. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  13. "Ms Elisha McCallion". gov.uk. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  14. "Foyle". parliament.uk. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  15. McClements, Freya (9 June 2017). "Foyle: SDLP shell-shocked as Elisha McCallion wins for Sinn Féin". The Irish Times. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  16. "General Election 2017: Sinn Féin's Elisha McCallion in historic win in Foyle". BBC News. 9 June 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  17. "Colum Eastwood considers standing for Foyle seat". BBC News. 19 September 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  18. McClements, Freya (13 December 2019). "Foyle: SDLP's Colum Eastwood in landslide victory". Irish Times. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  19. "General Election 2017: Sinn Féin's Elisha McCallion elected to the Seanad". BBC News. 3 April 2020. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
Northern Ireland Assembly
Preceded by
Martin McGuinness		 Member of the Legislative Assembly
for Foyle
2017–2017		 Succeeded by
Karen Mullan
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Mark Durkan		 Member of Parliament
for Foyle
2017–2019		 Succeeded by
Colum Eastwood
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