Nigel Dodds is a barrister and Northern Ireland unionist politician. He is member of Parliament for Belfast North, and a member of the Democratic Unionist Party. He was Lord Mayor of Belfast from 1988 to 1991, and from 1993 has been Secretary of the DUP. He became Belfast North's MP in the 2001 general elections. He is also a member of the currently-suspended Northern Ireland Assembly, and had been Minister for Social Development in the power-sharing Northern Ireland Executive.