Lo was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly for Belfast South in the 2007 assembly election. She is the first and, to date, only ethnic-minority politician elected at a regional level in Northern Ireland, the first politician born in East Asia elected to any legislative body in the United Kingdom, and the first Chinese-born person to be elected to any European legislative parliament. Lo stood as an Alliance Party candidate for the Northern Ireland Assembly and was elected in Belfast South in 2007. After her re-election in 2011, Lo was appointed as the chair of the Northern Ireland Assembly's Environment Committee. She used this role to influence the Local Government Bill. As a result of her amendments, the new Councils will have greater levels of openness and transparency as the audio of the main Council meetings will be recorded and Council papers will be placed online. She further improved the freedom of the press at the new Councils by ensuring that journalists and the public will be able to use social media during meetings. She was selected as the Alliance Party's candidate for the Northern Ireland constituency in the 2014 European Parliament election. She won the best ever European election performance for the party. Lo has been the target of racial abuse by Ulster loyalists and did not stand for re-election as MLA in 2016 as a result.
Personal life
Lo is a social worker and former chairperson of the Northern Ireland Chinese Welfare Association. She moved from her native Hong Kong to Northern Ireland in 1974, after meeting journalist David Watson. She spent her early years in the country working for the BBC and the Royal Ulster Constabulary as an interpreter. In 1978, she started an English evening class for Chinese people in Northern Ireland. She was awarded an MBE in 1999 for Services to Ethnic Minorities. Since 2007 Lo has suffered from non-Hodgkin Lymphoma and must maintain a vegetarian diet to combat the illness.
Political views
Lo has declared her preference for Irish unification. She describes herself as anti-colonial and has said the partition of Ireland was "artificial". The Alliance Party played down her remarks, with fellow Alliance elected representative Geraldine Rice expressing shock at her stance. Lo also refers to herself as a Socialist and a Republican. She expressed her outrage at First MinisterPeter Robinson's defence of Pastor James McConnell, who was accused of making Islamophobic remarks. She has stated that she views the Democratic Unionist Party to be racist because of decisions like those. Lo supported moves to liberalise abortion laws in Northern Ireland and voted to extend the Abortion Act 1967, which already extends the rest of the United Kingdom, to Northern Ireland.
