Bible Week Reader, Wednesday
Our reader this evening is the Rt Hon Jeffrey Donaldson MP MLA. He is the Democratic Unionist Member of Parliament for Lagan Valley. He will be reading Jude 1:14-16.
Jeffrey joined the Young Unionist movement at the age of 18 and went on to become Chairman of the Ulster Young Unionist Council in 1985 and 1986. In 1985 he was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly with the distinction at the age of 22 of being the youngest person to win a seat at Stormont.
Following the decision by Sir James Molyneaux to retire from the House of Commons Jeffrey was elected to Parliament on 1 May 1997 with a majority of some 17,000 votes.
He was a key member of the UUP negotiating team in the talks culminating in the Belfast Agreement in April 1998.
As a result of internal policy differences Jeffrey resigned from the Ulster Unionist Party during December 2003. He subsequently joined the Democratic Unionist Party in January 2004 and became a key member of the DUP negotiating team for the review of the Belfast Agreement which culminated in a new Agreement at St Andrews in autumn of 2006.
Following the restoration of Devolved Government in May 2007, Jeffrey was appointed as the lead DUP member of the Northern Ireland Policing Board. He also chaired the Assembly and Executive Review Committee whose remit included the preparations for the devolution of Policing and Justice powers to the Assembly.
Jeffrey was also appointed by H M Queen as a Member of the Privy Council with a special interest in security matters. He is the DUP Spokesman on Home Office and Defence issues in the House of Commons.
In February 2008, Jeffrey was appointed to Ministerial Office in the Office of the First Minister (OFMDFM). As a Minister he had responsibility for Victims issues, Children and Young People, policies on Older Persons, coordinating Executive business in the Assembly and generally assisting the First Minister with the discharge of his Ministerial functions.
He is married to Eleanor and has two children - Claire aged 18 and Laura aged 17.