Michelle Gildernew

Michelle Gildernew
Official portrait, 2014
Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development
In office 8 May 2007 – 4 May 2011
First Minister	Ian Paisley Peter Robinson
Preceded by	Bríd Rodgers
Succeeded by	Michelle O'Neill
Member of Parliament for Fermanagh and South Tyrone
In office 8 June 2017 – 30 May 2024
Preceded by	Tom Elliot
Succeeded by	Pat Cullen
In office 7 June 2001 – 30 March 2015
Preceded by	Ken Maginnis
Succeeded by	Tom Elliott
Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Fermanagh and South Tyrone
In office 5 May 2016 – 9 June 2017
Preceded by	Bronwyn McGahan
Succeeded by	Colm Gildernew
In office 25 June 1998 – 1 July 2012
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Bronwyn McGahan
Personal details
Born	(1970-03-28) 28 March 1970 (age 54) Dungannon, Northern Ireland
Political party	Sinn Féin
Spouse	Jimmy Taggart
Children	3
Relatives	Colm Gildernew (brother)
Alma mater	University of Ulster

Michelle Angela Gildernew^[1] (born 28 March 1970)^[2] is an Irish Sinn Féin politician from County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. She was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Fermanagh and South Tyrone from 2017 to 2024, after previously holding the seat from 2001 to 2015.

Gildernew is a former Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development in the Northern Ireland Executive. She was the MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone from 2001 to 2015, and was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for the Assembly constituency of Fermanagh and South Tyrone from June 1998 to July 2012.^[3] She was re-elected to the Assembly in 2016 and 2017. In 2017 she reclaimed her Westminster seat from Tom Elliott of the Ulster Unionist Party. In 2019, she was re-elected with the smallest majority of any constituency in the UK, a margin of just 57 votes.

Gildernew is Sinn Féin's health spokesperson, and has been a member of the party's Ard Chomhairle (National Executive). In the 2007–2011 Assembly, she served as Vice Chair of the Committee of Social Development and was a member of the Committee of the centre, as well as other statutory and ad-hoc committees.^[4]