Baroness Arlene Foster

Arlene, Baroness Foster of Aghadrumsee DBE, PC, was Minister for the Environment from 2007-2008, Minister for Enterprise from 2008-2015 and Minister for Finance from 2015-2016 and served as First Minister of Northern Ireland from 2016 to 2017 and from 2020 to 2021.  

Baroness Foster was MLA for Fermanagh and South Tyrone from 2003 to 2021, initially as a member of the Ulster Unionist Party, but switching to the Democratic Unionist Party in 2004. She went on to lead the DUP from 2015 to 2021. 

Since leaving the Assembly, Baroness Foster has been appointed as a director of a peace-building charity, Co-operation Ireland and has her own show on GB News.  

Baroness Foster launched the Together UK Foundation in November 2022.  

She is a graduate of Queen’s University Belfast (Law, 1993, IPLS, 1996), and was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2022 Birthday Honours for political and public service. She was then created Baroness Foster of Aghadrumsee in November of that year.