Peter Weir, Baron Weir of Ballyholme

The Right Honourable The Lord Weir of Ballyholme
Minister for Education
In office 11 January 2020 – 13 June 2021
Preceded by	Himself (2017)
Succeeded by	Michelle McIlveen
In office 25 May 2016 – 2 March 2017
Preceded by	John O'Dowd
Succeeded by	Himself (2020)
Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal
Incumbent
Assumed office 16 November 2022 Life Peerage
Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Strangford
In office 2 March 2017 – 28 March 2022
Preceded by	Jonathan Bell
Succeeded by	Nick Mathison
Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for North Down
In office 25 June 1998 – 26 January 2017
Preceded by	Constituency established
Member of North Down Borough Council
In office 5 May 2005 – 22 May 2014
Preceded by	Patricia Wallace
Succeeded by	Council abolished
Constituency	Ballyholme and Groomsport
Northern Ireland Forum Member for North Down
In office 30 May 1996 – 25 April 1998
Preceded by	New forum
Succeeded by	Forum dissolved
Personal details
Born	Peter James Weir (1968-11-21) 21 November 1968 (age 55) Bangor, Northern Ireland
Nationality	British
Political party	DUP (2002–present) UUP (until 2001)
Alma mater	Queen's University Belfast
Profession	Barrister

Peter James Weir, Baron Weir of Ballyholme (born 21 November 1968), is a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician who served as Minister for Education in the Northern Ireland Executive from 2016 to 2017 and from 2020 to 2021.^[1] Weir was the first non-Sinn Féin legislator (following Martin McGuinness, Caitríona Ruane, and John O'Dowd) to head the Department of Education since the department came into existence on 2 December 1999.

He served as a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) from 1998 to 2022, originally being a member for North Down, which he represented from 1998 to 2017, before being elected as a member for Strangford in 2017. He lost his seat at the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election. Since 2022 he has been a member of the House of Lords.