First Minister and Deputy First Minister - Election

Election

As originally established under the Northern Ireland Act 1998, the First Minister was elected by the Assembly on a joint ticket with the deputy First Minister through a cross-community vote. This diarchy was created to enable the leaders of the main unionist and nationalist parties to work together, with guaranteed joint representation of both main communities. For the purposes of a cross-community vote, MLAs were designated as unionist, nationalist or other.

The nominees for First Minister and deputy First Minister required the support of:

• a majority of the members voting in the election;
• a majority of the designated unionists voting; and
• a majority of the designated nationalists voting.

This procedure was used on 2 December 1999 to elect David Trimble (Ulster Unionist Party, UUP) and Seamus Mallon (Social Democratic and Labour Party, SDLP). Following several suspensions of the Northern Ireland Executive, Trimble was not re-elected on 2 November 2001 due to unionist opposition. He was subsequently re-elected alongside Mark Durkan (SDLP) on 6 November 2001; on that occasion, three Alliance Party of Northern Ireland members redesignated from 'other' to 'unionist' to support Trimble's nomination.

Following the St Andrews Agreement in October 2006, this procedure was changed to allow for:

• a First Minister nominated by the largest party of the largest designation;
• a deputy First Minister nominated by the largest party of the second largest designation.

This procedure, which removed the need for a joint ticket between the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Féin, was used to appoint Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness on 8 May 2007. It was again used to appoint Peter Robinson (DUP) alongside Martin McGuinness on 5 June 2008 and again on 12 May 2011.

However, if the largest party of the largest designation (currently the DUP) were not the largest party overall, the appointment procedure would be as follows:

• a First Minister nominated by the largest party;
• a deputy First Minister nominated by the largest party of the largest designation.

This could potentially allow for a Sinn Féin First Minister if that party were to overtake the DUP in future elections. The Minister of Justice is now the only Northern Ireland Executive Minister elected on a cross-community vote. All other ministers are party appointees.