Carla Lockhart

Carla Rebecca Lockhart^[6] was born to Kenneth and Valerie Lockhart in Aughnacloy, County Tyrone, as part of a working-class family. She attended Aughnacloy High School, before attending Armagh Tech (now part of Southern Regional College) and then obtaining a business degree from the University of Ulster. Interested in politics from a young age, she was a member of the DUP's Young Democrats in her youth.

Lockhart was elected to Craigavon Borough Council in 2007, representing the Lurgan area. She was Mayor of Craigavon from 2012 to 2013, and stepped down in 2016 to run for the Assembly elections. Lockhart was President of the Local Government Association of Northern Ireland from 2015 to 2016.^[3]

She worked full-time in the Lurgan DUP Advice Centre under Stephen Moutray, whilst working as a councillor.^[7] Lockhart was elected as an MLA for Upper Bann in 2016.^[3]

On 8 November 2019, Lockhart announced her candidacy for the Upper Bann Westminster constituency at the 2019 general election.^[8] On 13 December, Lockhart won the seat in Westminster, succeeding the retiring MP David Simpson, and stepped down from her seat as MLA for Upper Bann.^{[2][9][10][11]}

Lockhart is a governor at Lurgan Junior High School and Magheralin Primary School.^[3]

Despite previously stating during a 2017 interview that having no functioning Northern Ireland Executive was one of the biggest problems facing the citizens of Northern Ireland,^[7] in November 2022 Lockhart defended the DUP's collapse of the same institutions by claiming the party had a democratic mandate to do so.^[12]

In December 2022, Lockhart, Miriam Cates and Rosie Duffield signed a cross-party letter asking the British Government to block the Scottish Government's Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill.^[13]

Lockhart retained her seat, with a decreased majority of 7,406 votes, at the 2024 general election.^[14][15] Despite a reduced majority, she increased her share of the vote to 45.7%, being the only DUP MP to do so.^[16][17]

Lockhart did not attend the first meeting of the new parliament in July 2024. She instead attended a planning committee meeting of Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Council, where she spoke against plans to include Irish language on street signs in Portadown. Claiming to speak on behalf of residents and Orange lodges, Lockhart said the plans were meant to "whip up tension", to "mark territory", and to "cleanse this area of Protestantism".^[18] Lockhart has supported attempts by the Protestant Orange Order to march through the mainly-Catholic part of Portadown (see Drumcree conflict).^[19]

In April 2025, Lockhart called for Kneecap to be denied entry to the US and Canada ahead of their US-Canada tour after allegations of the rap trio calling for the death of British MPs and shouting "up Hamas, up Hezbollah" in previous gigs.^[20]

Lockhart tabled a motion in parliament in February 2026, calling for a law banning the "glorification" of convicted terrorists. This was in response to tributes that had been paid to a recently-deceased IRA member.^[21]

In April 2026, Lockhart called for Marks & Spencer to reintroduce Union Flag branded bags to their Northern Ireland stores.^[22]

Lockhart condemned the Public Health Agency in June 2026 for publishing harm reduction advice for anyone taking drugs as festivals. Lockhart called for the advice to be taken down, saying "There is no safe way to take illegal drugs". The PHA defended its advice, saying it is "derived from evidence-based harm-reduction guidance".^[23]

In June 2026, Lockhart was criticised for standing alongside a crowd of masked men at a counter-protest in Scarva. They opposed a charity walk organised by the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC), which was to raise funds for humanitarian aid to Gaza. Both demonstrations were given permission from the Parades Commission. The IPSC, local politicians and the media variously reported that counter-protesters waved Israeli flags and shouted sectarian, racist, misogynistic and other abuse at the walkers.^{[24][25][26][27]} At the time, Lockhart had thanked the pro-Israeli protesters "for their dignified actions".^[28] Her party defended her, and she refused to apologise, saying "I stood with my people" to prevent tensions escalating and helped to avert "an absolute bloodbath".^[29]

In July 2026, Lockhart's conduct at Scarva was raised during a High Court judicial review concerning a Parades Commission decision preventing an Orange Order parade from proceeding along the Garvaghy Road in Portadown. Lockhart had written to the Parades Commission in support of the Orangemen's position. During a hearing on 3 July, Mr Justice McAlinden questioned the weight that should be placed on her representations in light of her appearance alongside masked counter-protesters at Scarva, saying that her conduct had the potential to "devalue her intervention" and caused him concern about "placing too much weight" on her correspondence.^[30] John Larkin KC, appearing in the proceedings, subsequently told the court on Lockhart's behalf that she condemned masked persons and criminality and that she had been specifically asked by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) to attend the Scarva protest. McAlinden welcomed the clarification.^[30] The following day, The Irish News reported that the PSNI had contradicted that account, with a police spokesperson stating that no invitations had been extended to elected representatives in relation to the event. Lockhart accused the newspaper of "selective reporting" and said that she stood over her actions and the submissions made on her behalf.^[31]

Lockhart is a member of the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster.^[7] She is married to Rodney Condell, a quantity surveyor.^[32] In 2019, she gave birth to her first child.^[33]