The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a unionist, loyalist, British nationalist and national conservative political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1971 during the Troubles by Ian Paisley, who led the party for the next 37 years. It is currently led by Gavin Robinson, who is stepping in as an interim after the resignation of Jeffrey Donaldson. It is the second largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly, and is the fifth-largest party in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The party has been described as centre-right to right-wing and socially conservative, being anti-abortion and opposing same-sex marriage. The DUP sees itself as defending Britishness and Ulster Protestant culture against Irish nationalism and republicanism. It is also Eurosceptic and supported Brexit.
The Northern Ireland Assembly, often referred to by the metonym Stormont, is the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and to appoint the Northern Ireland Executive. It sits at Parliament Buildings at Stormont in Belfast.
Sir Jeffrey Mark Donaldson is a British politician who served as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) from 2021 to 2024 and leader of the DUP in the UK House of Commons from 2019 to 2024. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Lagan Valley since 1997.
Peter James Weir, Baron Weir of Ballyholme is a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician who served as Minister for Education in the Northern Ireland Executive from 2016 to 2017 and from 2020 to 2021. Weir was the first non-Sinn Féin legislator to head the Department of Education since the department came into existence on 2 December 1999.
Edwin Poots is a British politician from Northern Ireland, serving as Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly since February 2024. He served as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) from May to June 2021. He was first elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) in 1998. As of 2023, Poots was the DUP's Spokesperson for Institutional Reform and Hard to Reach Communities.
Jim Wells is a Northern Irish unionist politician, formerly of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), who was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for South Down from 1998 to 2022; he was one the longest serving MLAs in the Northern Ireland Assembly. Wells is also a former Deputy Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly, and was a councillor on Down District Council from 2001 to 2011.
William Alexander Hay, Baron Hay of Ballyore, is a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician, who was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Foyle from 1998 to 2014.
Alex Easton MLA is a Northern Irish Independent Unionist politician, serving as a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for North Down since 2003.
David McNarry is a former Northern Irish unionist politician and Ulster Loyalist representative who served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Strangford from 2003 to 2016.
Michelle McIlveen MLA is a Northern Irish unionist politician, serving as General Secretary of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) since 2008. she is the party's Spokesperson for Environment, Climate and Fisheries. She served as Minister for Education from June 2021 to October 2022, and a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Strangford since 2007.
The First Minister and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland are the joint heads of government of Northern Ireland, leading the Northern Ireland Executive and with overall responsibility for the running of the Executive Office. Despite the titles of the two offices, the two positions have the same governmental power, resulting in a duumvirate; the deputy First Minister, customarily spelled with a lowercase d, is not subordinate to the First Minister. Created under the terms of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, both were initially nominated and appointed by members of the Northern Ireland Assembly on a joint ticket by a cross-community vote, under consociational principles. That process was changed following the 2006 St Andrews Agreement, such that the First Minister now is nominated by the largest party overall, and the deputy First Minister is nominated by the largest party from the next largest community block.
Paul Jonathan Givan is a Unionist politician from Northern Ireland who served as First Minister of Northern Ireland from 2021 to 2022. He has served as Minister of Education since 3 February 2024. Givan has been a Member of the Legislative Assembly for Lagan Valley since 2010.
Hugh John Simpson Gibson MBE is a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician in Northern Ireland who was a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Strangford from 2010 to 2011.
Gordon Dunne was a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician who was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for North Down from 2011 until June 2021.
Gary Middleton is a Unionist politician from Northern Ireland representing the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). He has been a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Foyle since 2015. Middleton is the DUP Spokesperson for the North West.
Gordon Lyons is a Northern Irish unionist politician, who has served as Minister for Communities since 2024. He is currently serving as Director of Elections for the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). He was Minister for the Economy in the Northern Ireland Executive from 2021 to 2022, and has been a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for East Antrim since August 2015. He is the DUP's Spokesperson for Finance, Public Service Reform and the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Carla Rebecca Lockhart is a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician, who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Upper Bann since the 2019 general election, currently serving as the DUP Spokesperson for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs. She was previously a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Upper Bann, elected at the 2016 election, until 2019.
The 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election was held on 5 May 2022. It elected 90 members to the Northern Ireland Assembly. It was the seventh assembly election since the establishment of the assembly in 1998. The election was held three months after the Northern Ireland Executive collapsed due to the resignation of the First Minister, Paul Givan of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), in protest against the Northern Ireland Protocol.
This is a list of the 90 members of the sixth Northern Ireland Assembly, the unicameral devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. The election took place on 2 March 2017, with counting finishing the following day; voter turnout was estimated at 64.8%.
Andrew Muir is a Northern Irish politician who has served as Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs since February 2024. He is an Alliance Party Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for North Down. He was appointed as an MLA following incumbent Alliance MLA Stephen Farry's election as MP for North Down in the 2019 UK general election, and elected in the constituency in the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election.
