Sorcha Eastwood | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2024 | |
| Member of Parliament forLagan Valley | |
| Assumed office 4 July 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Jeffrey Donaldson |
| Majority | 2,959 (6.0%) |
| Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly forLagan Valley | |
| In office 5 May 2022 – 5 July 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Trevor Lunn |
| Succeeded by | Michelle Guy |
| Member of Lisburn & Castlereagh Council | |
| In office 7 May 2019 – 5 May 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Geraldine Rice |
| Succeeded by | Fiona Cole |
| Constituency | Castlereagh South |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Sorcha-Lucy Eastwood |
| Political party | Alliance |
| Spouse | [1] |
| Occupation | Politician |
Sorcha-Lucy Eastwood[2] is a Northern Irish politician who has served asMember of Parliament (MP) forLagan Valley since 2024. A member of theAlliance Party, she previously served as amember of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) forLagan Valley from 2022 until her election to theHouse of Commons in 2024.
Sorcha Eastwood was born inLisburn and has lived there her whole life. She has characterised her family as "political but not party political" and "very community-minded". Eastwood describes her father as "a very violent man"; her experiences with domestic violence growing up were one of the factors that inspired her to get involved in politics. Her mother wasdyslexic and left school at 15. She also has relatives with other disabilities, which sparked a lifelong interest indisability rights. Eastwood herself suffers fromendometriosis.[3]
Eastwood attended St Joseph's Primary School andSt Dominic's Grammar School for Girls inBelfast.[4] She studied law and politics for a year at university before dropping out and starting an apprenticeship in retail management atTesco, becoming one of their youngest store managers on a pilot scheme.[citation needed] She then studiedbusiness andeconomics atUlster University, with a special interest inhuman resources and employment.[citation needed]
Sorcha Eastwood ran in the2017 Northern Ireland Assembly election as anAlliance Party candidate inBelfast West. She received 747 first preference votes and was eliminated on the first count.[5]
She was an Alliance candidate again later that year, this time for the2017 United Kingdom general election, running inBelfast West. She came 5th, with 731 votes, roughly maintaining Alliance's percentage share of the vote from theprevious general election.[6]
She was elected inMay 2019 as a councillor onLisburn and Castlereagh City Council, representing the district electoral area of Castlereagh South. In that election, she topped the poll with 1,629 first preference votes and was elected on the first count.[7]
Later that year, she was the Alliance Party candidate forLagan Valley in the2019 general election, polling 28.8% of the vote (an increase of 17.7%), coming second behind theDUP incumbentJeffrey Donaldson, while reducing his majority from 19,229 to 6,499.[8]
In 2020, Eastwood was awarded compensation after suing a former DUP councillor for accusing her of being an "IRA mouthpiece".[9]
Sorcha Eastwood, alongsideDavid Honeyford, was an Alliance candidate for the2022 Assembly election inLagan Valley. She polled 8,211 first preference votes and was elected on the fourth count.[10] She took the seat formerly held by Alliance Party turned IndependentMLATrevor Lunn, who did not run for re-election.[11]
She appeared on BBCQuestion Time for the first time on 19 October 2023 inLisburn.[12]
Eastwood ran again inLagan Valley at the2024 general election, winning the seat with 18,618 votes (37.9%), a majority of 2,959 (6.0%).[13][14][15] She is the first non-unionist MP to be elected for the constituency.[16]
On 5 November 2024, Eastwood joined theNorthern Ireland Affairs Select Committee (NIAC).[17]
On 8 June 2017, Eastwood married Dale Shirlow inLisburn. With her wedding on the same day as the2017 UK general election, Eastwood cast an election ballot in her wedding dress.[18]
In 2023, she publicly criticisedBelfast City Hospital where her husband was being treated for a rare blood cancer.[19]
| Northern Ireland Assembly | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of the Legislative Assembly forLagan Valley 2022–2024 | Succeeded by |
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forLagan Valley 2024–present | Incumbent |
