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.
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.
John Robert Beggs,commonly known as Roy Beggs,is a Northern Irish unionist politician and former teacher who was a Larne Borough Councillor from 1973 to 2014,representing the district of Larne Area B and its successor,Larne Lough.
East Antrim is a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons. The current MP is Sammy Wilson of the DUP.
Larne Borough Council was a Local Council in County Antrim in Northern Ireland. It merged with Ballymena Borough Council and Carrickfergus Borough Council in May 2015 under the reorganisation of local government in Northern Ireland to become Mid and East Antrim Borough Council.
Samuel Wilson is a Northern Irish politician who was Chief Whip of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in the House of Commons from 2019 to 2024. Wilson has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for East Antrim since 2005. He served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Belfast East from 1998 to 2003 and for East Antrim from 2003 until 2015. He served as Lord Mayor of Belfast from 1986 to 1987 and again from 2000 to 2001,the first person from the DUP to hold the office. He has also served as Minister of Finance and Personnel and Minister of the Environment in the Northern Ireland Executive.
Arlene Isobel Foster,Baroness Foster of Aghadrumsee,,is a British broadcaster and politician from Northern Ireland who served as First Minister of Northern Ireland from 2016 to 2017 and 2020 to 2021 and leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) from 2015 to 2021. Foster was the first woman to hold either position. She is a Member of the House of Lords,having previously been a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Fermanagh and South Tyrone from 2003 to 2021.
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.
Roger Hutchinson is a former Northern Irish unionist politician and church minister who was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for East Antrim from 1998 to 2003.
The Second Executive is as under the terms of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 a power sharing coalition.
Danny O'Connor is an Irish former Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) politician who was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for East Antrim from 1998 to 2003. He was also a Larne Borough Councillor for the Coast Road DEA from 1997 to 2011.
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 Northern Irish unionist politician who served as First Minister of Northern Ireland from 2021 to 2022. A member of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP),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.
The 2016 Northern Ireland Assembly election was held on Thursday,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.
Pamela (Pam) Cameron is a Unionist politician from Northern Ireland,who has served as a Junior Minister in the Executive of the 7th Northern Ireland Assembly since 2024. She is a member of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).
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.
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%.
The May 2021 Democratic Unionist Party leadership election was triggered by Arlene Foster's resignation from leadership. It was the Democratic Unionist Party's first leadership election since the party's founding in 1971.
