Anna Lo

Anna Manwah Lo, MBE (born 17 June 1950) is an Alliance Party politician in Northern Ireland.[1] She was a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Belfast South from 2007 to 2016, and has been the party's president since 2016.

In this Chinese name, the family name is Lo (盧).
Anna Lo

MBE
Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly
for Belfast South
In office
7 March 2007 – 7 May 2016
Preceded byEsmond Birnie
Succeeded byPaula Bradshaw
Personal details
Born
Anna Manwah Lo

(1950-06-17) 17 June 1950
British Hong Kong
Political partyAlliance
Spouse(s)David Watson (divorced)
Gavin Millar (divorced)
Children2
Alma materUniversity of Ulster
ProfessionSocial worker
Anna Lo
Traditional Chinese盧曼華
Simplified Chinese卢曼华

Early life

Lo, who is of Cantonese Chinese ethnicity, was born in British Hong Kong on 17 June 1950.

Career

Political career

Lo was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly for Belfast South in the 2007 assembly election.[1] She is the first and, to date, only ethnic-minority politician elected at a regional level in Northern Ireland, the first politician born in East Asia elected to any legislative body in the United Kingdom,[2] and the first Chinese-born person to be elected to any European legislative parliament.[3]

Lo stood as an Alliance Party candidate for the Northern Ireland Assembly and was elected in Belfast South in 2007. After her re-election in 2011, Lo was appointed as the chair of the Northern Ireland Assembly's Environment Committee.[4] She used this role to influence the Local Government Bill. As a result of her amendments, the new Councils will have greater levels of openness and transparency as the audio of the main Council meetings will be recorded and Council papers will be placed online. She further improved the freedom of the press at the new Councils by ensuring that journalists and the public will be able to use social media during meetings.[5]

She was selected as the Alliance Party's candidate for the Northern Ireland constituency in the 2014 European Parliament election. She won the best ever European election performance for the party.[6]

Lo has been the target of racial abuse by Ulster loyalists[7][8] and did not stand for re-election as MLA in 2016 as a result.[9]

Personal life

Lo is a social worker and former chairperson of the Northern Ireland Chinese Welfare Association. She moved from her native Hong Kong to Northern Ireland in 1974,[10] after meeting journalist David Watson. She spent her early years in the country working for the BBC and the Royal Ulster Constabulary as an interpreter. In 1978, she started an English evening class for Chinese people in Northern Ireland.[11]

She was awarded an MBE in 1999 for Services to Ethnic Minorities.[7][12]

Since 2007 Lo has suffered from non-Hodgkin Lymphoma and must maintain a vegetarian diet to combat the illness.[13]

Political views

Lo has declared her preference for Irish unification. She describes herself as anti-colonial and has said the partition of Ireland was "artificial".[14] The Alliance Party played down her remarks, with fellow Alliance elected representative Geraldine Rice expressing shock at her stance.[15] Lo also refers to herself as a Socialist and a Republican (in the international, anti-monarchist sense).[16]

She expressed her outrage at First Minister Peter Robinson's defence of Pastor James McConnell, who was accused of making Islamophobic remarks.[7] She has stated that she views the Democratic Unionist Party to be racist because of decisions like those.[16]

Lo supported moves to liberalise abortion laws in Northern Ireland and voted to extend the Abortion Act 1967, which already extends the rest of the United Kingdom, to Northern Ireland.[17][18]

See also

References
  1. "Belfast politician defies racists", BBC News, 26 March 2007.
  2. O'Boyle, Claire (27 January 2017). "I don't buy it, says Anna Lo of Alliance Party racism and ageism claims". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  3. "BBC Northern Ireland Alliance party selects Anna Lo". BBC News. 19 November 2010. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  4. "The Official Report". Niassembly.gov.uk. 16 May 2011. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  5. "Lo highlights Alliance amendments to Local Government Bill (The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland)". Allianceparty.org. Archived from the original on 11 November 2014. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  6. White, Bill (4 September 2014). "Elections round-up: Alliance outperforms against pollster prediction". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  7. "Only Chinese-born parliamentarian in UK to quit politics over racist abuse". The Guardian. 29 May 2014. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  8. McDonald, Henry (8 February 2014). "Chinese politician racially abused online by Northern Ireland loyalists". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  9. "Anna Lo to quit NI politics over disillusionment". BBC News. 29 May 2014. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  10. "Growing hostility to foreigners drives Hong Kong-born Anna Lo out of Northern Ireland politics". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  11. "Anna Lo: 'It was horrific, I had people ringing saying how dare you'". BelfastTelegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  12. "Ex-Alliance MLA Anna Lo: Why I'd vote for a united Ireland". BelfastTelegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  13. "'I said that I'd give Northern Ireland six months when I came over... four decades later, I'm still here'". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  14. "Anna Lo: 'United Ireland' remarks 'insulting', say unionists". BBC News. 20 March 2014. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  15. "Anna Lo comments: Geraldine Rice 'shocked' by united Ireland remarks". BBC News. 23 March 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
  16. Breen, Suzanne (24 October 2016). "Ex-Alliance MLA Anna Lo: Why I'd vote for a united Ireland". Retrieved 9 April 2020. I am a socialist and a republican in the international sense," she said. "I don't believe in the monarchy or in inherited wealth, privilege and position. But when I met the Queen I was respectful because she is the head of State.
  17. "Legalise abortion in Northern Ireland". Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  18. "MLAs' vote to alter law on abortion faces delay". 1 March 2013. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
Northern Ireland Assembly
Preceded by
Esmond Birnie		 MLA for Belfast South
2007–2016		 Succeeded by
Paula Bradshaw
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