Rachel Woods (born 15 April 1989) is a Northern Irish politician who served as 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 ...

Member of the Legislative Assembly A member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to a legislative assembly. Most often, the term refers to a subnational assembly such as that of a state, province, or territory of a country. S ...

(MLA) for North Down from 2019 to 2022, having replaced the party's former leader, Steven Agnew.

Early life

Woods is from Holywood, Co. Down. She holds a degree in history and a master's from

Queen's University Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

. From the age of 15, Woods worked in hospitality as a cleaner, chef and bar worker. She also worked as a researcher and economic analyst for Analyse Africa, part of the

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

, and as a supervisor in

Holywood Holy Wood or Holywood may refer to: Places * Holywood, County Down, a town and townland in Northern Ireland ** Holywood, County Down (civil parish), a civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland ** Holywood railway station (Northern Ireland) * ...

bar The Dirty Duck Ale House.

Political career

Woods joined the Green Party because she was "fed up screaming at the TV, fed up with politicians in my area who were supposed to represent me and who just didn't." Woods served as a

councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

for the Holywood and Clandeboye electoral area on

Ards and North Down Borough Council Ards and North Down Borough Council is a local authority in Northern Ireland that was established on 1 April 2015. It replaced Ards Borough Council and North Down Borough Council. The first elections to the authority were on 22 May 2014 and it ...

from 2016 until her selection as an MLA in 2019. Woods passed many amendments to the Domestic Abuse Bill, including widening access to legal aid for victims of abuse and changes to the “child aggravator” clause providing for tougher custodial sentences where a child could be impacted by abuse, as well as additional reporting requirements. In 2022, her Safe Leave Bill passed the Assembly, making Northern Ireland the first region of the UK to provide 10 days paid leave to victims of domestic abuse. Upon passage, the Bill was said to be "a life saver for many people who are experiencing or have experienced domestic abuse." She has called for

votes at 16 Votes at 16 is a campaign in the United Kingdom which argues in favour of the reduction of the voting age to 16 for all public elections. The campaign espouses several principles in favour of lowering the voting age. Votes at 16 Coalition The Vo ...

in Northern Ireland elections and has been prominent in calls for the Northern Ireland local government pension scheme to divest from fossil fuels. In March 2022, the pension scheme moved £2.8 billion of its funds into low-carbon investments. She lost her North Down seat in the

2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election The 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election was held on 5 May 2022. It elected 90 members to the Northern Ireland Assembly. It was the seventh assembly election since the establishment of the assembly in 1998. The election was held three months ...

Connie Egan Connie Egan is a Northern Irish politician who is an Alliance Party Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA). She was elected as an MLA in the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election for North Down. Political career Early career (2019-2022 ...

of the Alliance Party.

References

1989 births Living people Councillors in County Down Green Party in Northern Ireland MLAs Feminists from Northern Ireland Female members of the Northern Ireland Assembly Northern Ireland MLAs 2017–2022 Politicians from Belfast Green Party in Northern Ireland councillors Women councillors in Northern Ireland {{Northern-Ireland-MLA-stub