Lorraine Clifford-Lee (born 22 September 1981) is an Irish

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil (, ; meaning 'Soldiers of Destiny' or 'Warriors of Fál'), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party ( ga, audio=ga-Fianna Fáil.ogg, Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christian- ...

politician who has served as a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

since June 2020. She was

nominated by the Taoiseach A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example: * to be elected to an office — in this case a candidate selection procedure occurs. * t ...

to become a Senator in June 2020, having previously been selected from the 2016 to 2020 Cultural and Educational Panel.

Early and personal life

Clifford-Lee was born in

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

in 1981. She attended Our Lady of Mercy in Waterford and later studied at

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh) is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of ...

where she became the Irish Officer on the Students Union. She lives in Donabate with her husband John Lee and her daughter and son. Her husband, who is 10 years her senior, is the political editor of the Irish Mail on Sunday newspaper. She is a self-employed solicitor and is a fluent Irish speaker.

Political career

2016 general election

After Clifford-Lee unsuccessfully contested a local election for a seat in the Pembroke-South Dock ward of Dublin City Council in 2015, she was selected, along with Darragh O'Brien, to be one of two Fianna Fáil candidates for the

Dublin Fingal Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

constituency in the 2016 general election. Clifford-Lee was selected to run in Dublin Fingal to ensure Fianna Fáil complied with gender quota rules. The decision to add Clifford-Lee to the ticket was criticised by party insiders as tokenism and gratuitous. Darragh Butler, a long-time local Fianna Fáil councillor, stating "due to gender quotas we are being overlooked in favour of a candidate who has no track record, no history and up to now, no visibility in the constituency." In the lead up to the election Clifford-Lee claimed that members of her team were intimidated by supporters of her running mate Darragh O'Brien while they were canvassing in Portmarnock. O'Brien denied knowledge of this but said that tempers can get a little frayed so close to polling day. She was an unsuccessful candidate for the Dublin Fingal constituency polling 3,359 (5.6%) of first preferences and was eliminated on the ninth count, while her running mate Darragh O'Brien was elected on the first count, topping the poll. On her election to the Seanad, she was appointed as the Fianna Fáil Seanad Spokesperson for Justice, Children and Youth Affairs. In November 2018, she was appointed Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Seanad.

2019 by-election

Clifford-Lee was a candidate in the 2019 Dublin Fingal by-election to fill the seat vacated following

Independents 4 Change Independents 4 Change ( ga, Neamhspleáigh ar son an Athraithe) is a left-wing Irish political party. History The political grouping registered as a political party since 2014. It was previously known as Independents for Equality Movement. T ...

's Clare Daly election to the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

in May 2019.

Racist tweets scandal

At the start of the campaign, multiple tweets emerged where Clifford-Lee appeared to make derogatory and xenophobic comments portraying negative and xenophobic attitudes towards foreigners, Irish Travellers as well as

ableist Ableism (; also known as ablism, disablism (British English), anapirophobia, anapirism, and disability discrimination) is discrimination and social prejudice against people with disabilities or who are perceived to be disabled. Ableism characteri ...

and

body shaming Body shaming is the action or inaction of subjecting someone to humiliation and criticism for their bodily features. The scope of body shaming is wide, and can include, although is not limited to fat-shaming, shaming for thinness, small breasts, ...

tweets about females. She was forced to apologise the tweets from 2011. She refused calls to stand down as a candidate, claiming she was the victim of a smear campaign, while Fianna Fáil did not discipline her.

By-election result

There was a record low turn out for the constituency of 25.59% and the seat was won by the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...

. Clifford-Lee received 18.5% of the first preference votes, coming second, and was eliminated on the final count.

2020 general election

She was also an unsuccessful candidate for Dublin Fingal at the

2020 general election The following elections were scheduled to occur in 2020. The International Foundation for Electoral Systems maintains a comprehensive list of upcoming elections on its E-Guide Platform. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calend ...

. She lost her seat at the 2020 Seanad election, but was restored to Seanad Éireann after being

Micheál Martin, her party leader, in June 2020.

References

External links

Lorraine Clifford-Lee's page on the Fianna Fáil website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clifford-Lee, Lorraine 1981 births Living people Irish solicitors Members of the 25th Seanad 21st-century women members of Seanad Éireann Politicians from County Dublin Fianna Fáil senators Members of the 26th Seanad Nominated members of Seanad Éireann People from Waterford (city) Alumni of University College Cork