Lord Nigel Dodds of Duncairn is a prominent Northern Irish unionist politician who has served as Leader of the Democratic Unionist Party in the House of Lords since 2021. Born in Derry in August 1958 and raised in County Fermanagh, he originally trained and practised as a barrister before entering politics. Dodds held the position of General Secretary of the DUP from 1993 to 2008 and subsequently served as the party's deputy leader from 2008 to 2021. He has twice held the office of Lord Mayor of Belfast and was a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly from 1998 to 2010, during which time he held three ministerial portfolios in the Northern Ireland Executive, including Minister of Finance and Personnel from 2008 to 2009.

Dodds represented the Belfast North constituency as a Member of Parliament from 2001 until 2019, when he was defeated by Sinn Féin's John Finucane. During his time in the House of Commons, he served as leader of the DUP parliamentary group from 2010 to 2019. He was elevated to the peerage in 2020, taking the title Baron Dodds of Duncairn. Lord Dodds now writes commentary for Comment Central.