Jennifer 'Jenny' Palmer (born 1 May 1959) is an Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) politician who served as a Lisburn and Castlereagh Councillor for the Lisburn South DEA from 2019 to 2023.

Jennifer Palmer
Palmer in 2016
Member of Lisburn City and Castlereagh District Council
In office
2 May 2019 – 18 May 2023
Preceded byRhoda Walker
Succeeded byPeter Kennedy
ConstituencyLisburn South
In office
22 May 2014 – 5 May 2016
Preceded byCouncil created
Succeeded byJonathan Craig
ConstituencyLisburn North
Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly
for Lagan Valley
In office
5 May 2016 – 26 January 2017
Preceded byJonathan Craig
Member of Lisburn City Council
In office
5 May 2005 – 22 May 2014
Preceded byThomas Archer
Succeeded byCouncil abolished
ConstituencyLisburn Town South
Personal details
Born (1959-05-01) May 1, 1959 (age 65)
Lisburn, Northern Ireland
NationalityBritish
Political partyUUP (2015 - present)
Other political
affiliations
DUP (Until 2015)
SpouseJohn
Children3
Alma materForthill Girls High
ProfessionPolitician

Palmer was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Lagan Valley from 2016 to 2017.

Formerly a member of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), Palmer left the party in 2015, during the Red Sky scandal.

Career

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As a DUP politician, Palmer was first elected to Lisburn City Council in 2005, representing the Lisburn Town South District, and was later re-elected in 2011.

At the 2014 local elections, she was elected onto the successor Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council as one of three DUP representatives for the Lisburn North District.

Following the Red Sky scandal, Palmer resigned from the DUP in 2015, and joined the Ulster Unionist Party.

At the 2016 Northern Ireland Assembly election, she was elected to represent Lagan Valley as one of two UUP members. Palmer lost her seat to Pat Catney of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) at the 2017 Assembly election.

She returned to Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council in the 2019 local elections, this time for the Lisburn South DEA. Palmer was defeated at the 2023 local elections, losing her seat to Peter Kennedy of the Alliance Party.

References

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[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

  1. ^ "DUP councillor Jenny Palmer 'summoned to disciplinary hearing' - BBC News". BBC News. 6 March 2015. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  2. ^ "DUP is divided by plans to discipline whistleblower Jenny Palmer". Belfasttelegraph. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  3. ^ "Jenny Palmer: Former DUP councillor joins Ulster Unionist Party - BBC News". BBC News. 3 September 2015. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  4. ^ "DUP's Jenny Palmer at centre of bullying claim resigns - BBC News". BBC News. 19 May 2015. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  5. ^ "Lagan Valley: Jenny Palmer takes seat as an Ulster Unionist". Belfasttelegraph. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  6. ^ "Jenny Palmer secures UUP seat in Lagan Valley at expense of DUP". The Irish News. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
Northern Ireland Assembly
Preceded by MLA for Lagan Valley
2016–2017
Seat abolished