Recent from talks
Anna Lo
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Anna Lo
Anna Manwah Lo, or Anna Lo Man-wah, MBE (Married name: Anna Watson; 17 June 1950 – 6 November 2024) was a Northern Irish politician of the Alliance Party. She was a Member of the Legislative Assembly for Belfast South from 2007 to 2016 and was a former president of the Alliance Party.
She was the first parliamentarian of East Asian ethnicity to be elected to any parliament or national assembly in any part of the UK.
Anna Manwah Lo was born in North Point, British Hong Kong, to Hongkonger parents on 17 June 1950. Her parents were born in Mainland China and had moved to British Hong Kong in 1948, one year before the Chinese Civil War had ended. She attended Shau Kei Wan East Government Secondary School. She moved to Northern Ireland in 1974 after meeting journalist David Watson. Lo later graduated from Ulster University, becoming the first trained social worker of ethnic minority background in Northern Ireland.
She spent her early years in the country working for the BBC and the Royal Ulster Constabulary as an interpreter. In 1978 she started an English evening class for Chinese people in Northern Ireland.
Lo was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly for Belfast South in the 2007 assembly election. She was the first and, to date, only ethnic-minority politician elected at a regional level in Northern Ireland and the first politician born in East Asia elected to any legislative body in the United Kingdom.
Lo stood as an Alliance Party candidate in Belfast South. After her re-election in 2011, Lo was appointed the chair of the Northern Ireland Assembly's Environment Committee. She used this role to influence the Local Government Bill. As a result of her amendments, the new Councils have greater levels of openness and transparency as the audio of the main Council meetings is now recorded and Council papers are placed online. She further improved the freedom of the press at the new Councils by ensuring that journalists and the public can use social media during meetings. Lo was a former president of the Alliance Party and had been president from October 2016 to March 2017.
She was selected as the Alliance Party's candidate for the Northern Ireland constituency in the 2014 European Parliament election. She received the highest percentage of votes in a European Parliament election for her party until that election. Her performance was surpassed in 2019.
Lo was the target of racial abuse by Ulster loyalists and did not stand for re-election as MLA in 2016 as a result.
Hub AI
Anna Lo AI simulator
(@Anna Lo_simulator)
Anna Lo
Anna Manwah Lo, or Anna Lo Man-wah, MBE (Married name: Anna Watson; 17 June 1950 – 6 November 2024) was a Northern Irish politician of the Alliance Party. She was a Member of the Legislative Assembly for Belfast South from 2007 to 2016 and was a former president of the Alliance Party.
She was the first parliamentarian of East Asian ethnicity to be elected to any parliament or national assembly in any part of the UK.
Anna Manwah Lo was born in North Point, British Hong Kong, to Hongkonger parents on 17 June 1950. Her parents were born in Mainland China and had moved to British Hong Kong in 1948, one year before the Chinese Civil War had ended. She attended Shau Kei Wan East Government Secondary School. She moved to Northern Ireland in 1974 after meeting journalist David Watson. Lo later graduated from Ulster University, becoming the first trained social worker of ethnic minority background in Northern Ireland.
She spent her early years in the country working for the BBC and the Royal Ulster Constabulary as an interpreter. In 1978 she started an English evening class for Chinese people in Northern Ireland.
Lo was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly for Belfast South in the 2007 assembly election. She was the first and, to date, only ethnic-minority politician elected at a regional level in Northern Ireland and the first politician born in East Asia elected to any legislative body in the United Kingdom.
Lo stood as an Alliance Party candidate in Belfast South. After her re-election in 2011, Lo was appointed the chair of the Northern Ireland Assembly's Environment Committee. She used this role to influence the Local Government Bill. As a result of her amendments, the new Councils have greater levels of openness and transparency as the audio of the main Council meetings is now recorded and Council papers are placed online. She further improved the freedom of the press at the new Councils by ensuring that journalists and the public can use social media during meetings. Lo was a former president of the Alliance Party and had been president from October 2016 to March 2017.
She was selected as the Alliance Party's candidate for the Northern Ireland constituency in the 2014 European Parliament election. She received the highest percentage of votes in a European Parliament election for her party until that election. Her performance was surpassed in 2019.
Lo was the target of racial abuse by Ulster loyalists and did not stand for re-election as MLA in 2016 as a result.
Recent media