Cllr Tracy Kelly to become DUP’s first female lord mayor of Belfast

South Belfast councillor Tracy Kelly is set to become the city’s first female lord mayor from the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).

She is expected to be voted into the top position in Belfast at a council meeting on Monday night.

It will make her the second female unionist to become the city’s lord mayor. The late Grace Bannister held the position in 1981, and there is a footbridge in east Belfast named in her honour.

The next deputy lord mayor is set to be west Belfast councillor Paul Doherty of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP).

Kelly, 47, is from the Donegall Road area of south Belfast and used to work in community development, which sparked her interest in politics.

She is currently office manager at the DUP constituency office of MLA Edwin Poots, who is the speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

She previously worked for MLA Christopher Stalford, who died suddenly three years ago, aged 39.

He had encouraged her to become involved in politics, and she was first elected to the council in 2019.

“He asked me to run in that election,” she told BBC News NI.

“Him and constituents pressurised me into running in the 2019 election. I never thought I would ever sit in city council – never mind be lord mayor.”

The DUP has held the position of lord mayor in Belfast nine times, and among those to wear the chain of office were Nigel Dodds, Sammy Wilson and current party leader Gavin Robinson.

Asked about being the first female from the party in the role, Kelly said: “I feel very privileged to be the first female. Women are now taking more and more leadership roles.”

She pointed out that the DUP has already had a female leader, Arlene Foster, who became first minister, and Emma Little-Pengelly is the current deputy first minister.

Looking ahead to her year in office, she said: “My aim as lord mayor is to ensure that nobody is left behind.

“Over the years Belfast has evolved and changed dramatically, since the Troubles especially.

“But there’s communities out there that are disengaged from the city centre, they don’t feel part of this change.

“And there’s also young people who are disengaged from education, employment and training. I want to reach out to them.”

Away from politics, Kelly is a football fan and supports Linfield and Liverpool.

The outgoing lord mayor is Micky Murray of the Alliance Party, who described himself as the first “openly gay” first citizen in Belfast.