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Emma Little-Pengelly is a Northern Irish unionist politician who serves as deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland and as a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Lagan Valley.
Little-Pengelly first entered the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2015 as an MLA for South Belfast. She subsequently served as a junior Minister in the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister and, following the 2016 Assembly election, chaired the Assembly's Finance Committee.
She was elected as the Member of Parliament for South Belfast in 2017 and served in the House of Commons until 2019.
Little-Pengelly returned to Stormont in May 2022 when she was co-opted as a DUP MLA for Lagan Valley. On 3 February 2024, following the restoration of Northern Ireland's power-sharing institutions, she was appointed deputy First Minister.
She serves alongside First Minister Michelle O'Neill in The Executive Office. Under Northern Ireland's power-sharing arrangements, the First Minister and deputy First Minister exercise their responsibilities jointly and the offices carry equal authority despite the difference in title.
Andy Burnham has declared an Irish unity referendum 'off the table' during his first visit to Northern Ireland as Prime Minister, prompting a sharp challenge from Sinn Féin over the Good Friday Agreement.