Reg Empey

The Right Honourable
The Lord Empey
OBE
The Right Honourable The Lord Empey OBE
	Official portrait, 2025
First Minister of Northern Ireland
	Acting
	In office; 1 July 2001 – 6 November 2001 Serving with Seamus Mallon
Appointed by	David Trimble
Preceded by	David Trimble
Succeeded by	David Trimble
Leader
Party offices
Chairman of the Ulster Unionist Party
	In office; 1 April 2012 – 23 December 2019
Leader	Mike Nesbitt ; Robin Swann ; Steve Aiken
Preceded by	David Campbell
Succeeded by	Danny Kennedy
13th Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party
	In office; 24 June 2005 – 22 September 2010
Deputy	Danny Kennedy
Chairman	David Campbell
President	The Lord Rogan; John White
Preceded by	David Trimble
Succeeded by	Tom Elliott
United Ulster Unionist Party
1977–1984	Deputy Leader
Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party
1974–1975	Chairman
Preceded by
Ministerial offices
Minister for Employment and Learning
	In office; 8 May 2007 – 27 October 2010
Preceded by	Carmel Hanna
Succeeded by	Danny Kennedy
Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment
	In office; 1 July 1998 – 14 October 2002
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Nigel Dodds
Deputy
Local government offices
46th and 50th Lord Mayor of Belfast
	In office; 1 June 1993 – 1 June 1994
Deputy	Hugh Smyth
Preceded by	Herbert Ditty
Succeeded by	Hugh Smyth
	In office; 1 June 1989 – 1 June 1990
Deputy	vacant
Preceded by	Nigel Dodds
Succeeded by	Fred Cobain
9th Deputy Lord Mayor of Belfast
	In office; 1 June 1988 – 1 June 1989
Lord Mayor	Nigel Dodds
Preceded by	Dixie Gilmore (1987)
Succeeded by	Eric Smyth (1990)
Member of Belfast City Council
	In office; 17 May 1985 – 5 May 2011
Constituency	Pottinger
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Niall Ó Donnghaile
Constituency
Parliamentary offices
Member of the House of Lords
	Lord Temporal
	Life peerage ; 15 January 2011
Member of the Legislative Assembly
	In office; 25 June 1998 – 5 May 2011
Constituency	Belfast East
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Michael Copeland
Member of the Northern Ireland Forum
	In office; 30 May 1996 – 25 April 1998
Constituency	Belfast East
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Office abolished
Member of the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention
	In office; 1 May 1975 – 6 March 1976
Constituency	Belfast East
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Office abolished
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Personal details
Born	Reginald Norman Morgan Empey; 26 October 1947; Belfast, Northern Ireland
Party	Ulster Unionist Party ; (Before 1973; 1984–2011; 2011-)
Other political; affiliations	Ulster Vanguard ; (1973–1975); United Ulster Unionist Party ; (1975–1984); Conservatives (2011)
Spouse	Stella Empey (died 2023)
Children	2
Alma mater	Queen's University Belfast
Profession	Businessman

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Reginald Norman Morgan Empey, Baron Empey, OBE (born 26 October 1947), best known as Reg Empey, is a Northern Irish politician who served as the acting First Minister of Northern Ireland in 2001. He was the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) from 2005 to 2010 and served as chairman of the party from 2012 to 2019. Empey was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for East Belfast from 1998 to 2011 and has been a life peer in the House of Lords since 2011.