Castlereagh was a local government district with the status of borough in Northern Ireland. It merged with Lisburn City Council in May 2015 under local government reorganisation in Northern Ireland to become Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council, with a small amount being transferred to Belfast City Council.
The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland favouring British identity. It was founded in 1971 during the Troubles by Ian Paisley, who led the party for the next 37 years. Now led by Edwin Poots, it has, by a margin of one, the most seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly, and it is the fifth-largest party in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.
The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (APNI) is a liberal and centrist political party in Northern Ireland. It is Northern Ireland's fifth-largest party, currently holding seven seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly, but has made recent breakthroughs to place third in first preference votes in the 2019 European Parliament election and third highest-polling regionally at the 2019 UK general election. The party won one of the three Northern Ireland seats in the European Parliament, and one seat, North Down, in the House of Commons.
Iris Robinson is a former Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician in Northern Ireland. She is married to Peter Robinson, who was First Minister of Northern Ireland from 2008 to 2016.
Peter David Robinson is a retired Northern Irish politician who served as First Minister of Northern Ireland from 2008 until 2016 and Leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) from 2008 until 2015. He has been involved in Northern Irish politics for over 40 years, being a founding member of the DUP along with Ian Paisley.
Nigel Alexander Dodds, Baron Dodds of Duncairn,, is a Northern Irish barrister and unionist politician who served as deputy leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) from June 2008 to May 2021. Dodds became North Belfast's MP at the 2001 UK general election and served in that role until he was defeated by Sinn Féin's John Finucane in 2019. He has served in the past as a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly, and as Minister of Finance in the Northern Ireland Executive. In July 2020, Dodds was nominated for a peerage in the House of Lords and announced in September 2020 that he would take the title Lord Dodds of Duncairn. He has been Lord Mayor of Belfast twice and served as General Secretary of the DUP from 1993 to 2008.
The Green Party Northern Ireland is a green political party in Northern Ireland. Like many green political parties around the world, its origins lie in the anti-nuclear, labour and peace movements of the 1970s and early 1980s.
Edwin Poots is a Northern Irish politician who has been leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) since May 2021. He has served as the Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Lagan Valley since 1998, and as Minister of Agriculture, Environment, and Rural Affairs from January 2020.
The 2007 election to the Northern Ireland Assembly was held on Wednesday, 7 March 2007. It was the third election to take place since the devolved assembly was established in 1998. The election saw endorsement of the St Andrews Agreement and the two largest parties, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Sinn Féin, along with the Alliance Party, increase their support, with falls in support for the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) and the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP).
Francie Molloy is an Irish Sinn Féin politician who has been the abstentionist Member of Parliament (MP) for Mid Ulster since 2013. He was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Mid Ulster from 1998 to 2013.
Richard James Shannon is a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician from Northern Ireland. He has sat in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom since 2010 as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Strangford. He had previously sat in the Northern Ireland Assembly from 1998 to 2010 as the Member of the Legislative Assembly of Northern Ireland (MLA) for Strangford. He is an advocate for Leave Means Leave, a pro-Brexit campaign.
James Andrew Spratt was a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician and police officer from Northern Ireland. He was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for South Belfast from 2007 to 2015.
Denny Vitty is a politician in Northern Ireland.
The Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded on 7 December 2007, from a split in the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). Its first and current leader is Jim Allister who, until 2009, sat as an independent Member of the European Parliament, having been elected for the DUP in 2004. In the 2009 European elections Allister lost his seat when he stood as a TUV candidate. In June 2008, it was announced that former Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) MP William Ross had been made party president.
The 2011 election to the Northern Ireland Assembly took place on Thursday, 5 May, following the dissolution of the Northern Ireland Assembly at midnight on 24 March 2011. It was the fourth election to take place since the devolved assembly was established in 1998.
The Iris Robinson scandal, also known as Irisgate, was a political scandal in Northern Ireland involving Iris Robinson, the wife of Northern Ireland's First Minister Peter Robinson. She was a serving MP and MLA for the Democratic Unionist Party, representing Strangford in both assemblies.
Jonathan Fergus Bell is a former politician in Northern Ireland. He became a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for the Strangford constituency of the Northern Ireland Assembly, following the resignation of Iris Robinson.
The 2016 election to the Northern Ireland Assembly was held on 5 May 2016. It was the fifth election to take place since the devolved assembly was established in 1998. 1,281,595 individuals were registered to vote in the election. Turnout in the 2016 Assembly election was 703,744 (54.9%), a decline of less than one percentage point from the previous Assembly Election in 2011, but down 15 percentage points from the first election to the Assembly held in 1998.
Pam Cameron is a Democratic Unionist Party politician in Northern Ireland who has sat in the Northern Ireland Assembly since 2011 as the Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for the South Antrim constituency.
Emma Little-Pengelly is a Democratic Unionist Party politician in Northern Ireland. She was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Belfast South constituency in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 2017 until 2019, when she lost her seat to Claire Hanna of the SDLP. She previously served as an MLA for the Belfast South constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly.
