Peter Robinson (Northern Ireland politician)

Peter David Robinson (born 29 December 1948) is a retired British 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.

The Right Honourable

Peter Robinson
First Minister of Northern Ireland
In office
5 June 2008 – 11 January 2016*
Serving with Martin McGuinness
Preceded byIan Paisley
Succeeded byArlene Foster
Leader of the Democratic Unionist Party
In office
31 May 2008 – 17 December 2015
DeputyNigel Dodds
Preceded byIan Paisley
Succeeded byArlene Foster
Minister of Finance and Personnel
In office
8 May 2007 – 5 June 2008
First MinisterIan Paisley
Preceded bySean Farren
Succeeded byNigel Dodds
Minister for Regional Development
In office
24 October 2001 – 11 October 2002
First MinisterDavid Trimble
Reg Empey (Acting)
Preceded byGregory Campbell
Succeeded byConor Murphy
In office
29 November 1999 – 27 July 2000
First MinisterDavid Trimble
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byGregory Campbell
Member of the Legislative Assembly
for Belfast East
In office
25 June 1998 – 7 May 2016
Preceded byConstituency established
Succeeded byJoanne Bunting
Member of Parliament
for Belfast East
In office
3 May 1979 – 12 April 2010
Preceded byWilliam Craig
Succeeded byNaomi Long
Personal details
Born
Peter David Robinson

(1948-12-29) 29 December 1948
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Political partyDemocratic Unionist Party
Spouse(s)Iris Robinson (1970–present)
Children3
Alma materCastlereagh College
Signature
WebsiteOfficial website
*Arlene Foster served as Acting FM from 11 January 2010 to 3 February 2010 and 10 September 2015 to 20 October 2015.
**Robinson served alongside John O'Dowd in his capacity as Acting dFM from 20 September 2011 to 31 October 2011

Robinson served in the role of General Secretary of the DUP from 1975, a position which he held until 1979 and which afforded him the opportunity to exert unprecedented influence within the fledgeling party. In 1977, Robinson was elected as a councillor for the Castlereagh Borough Council in Dundonald, and in 1979, he became one of the youngest Members of Parliament (MP) when he was narrowly elected for Belfast East. He held this seat until his defeat by Naomi Long in 2010, making him the longest-serving Belfast MP since the 1800 Act of Union.

In 1980, Robinson was elected as the deputy leader of the DUP. Following the re-establishment of devolved government in Northern Ireland as a result of the Good Friday Agreement, Robinson was elected in 1998 as the Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Belfast East. Robinson subsequently served as Minister for Regional Development and Minister of Finance and Personnel in the Northern Ireland Executive. Robinson was elected unopposed to succeed Ian Paisley as leader of the DUP on 15 April 2008, and was subsequently confirmed as First Minister of Northern Ireland on 5 June 2008.[1][2]

In January 2010, following a scandal involving his wife Iris, Robinson temporarily handed over his duties as First Minister to Arlene Foster under the terms of the Northern Ireland Act 2006.[3] Following a police investigation, which recommended that Robinson should not be prosecuted following allegations made by the BBC in relation to the scandal, he resumed his duties as First Minister.[4][5] The Official Assembly Commissioner's Investigation and Report completely cleared Robinson of any wrongdoing. The Report was unanimously accepted by the Standards and Privileges Committee and the Northern Ireland Assembly. Again in September 2015 he stood aside to allow Arlene Foster to become acting First Minister after his bid to adjourn the assembly was rejected. Robinson's action was a response to a murder carried out by the IRA which was linked to a party in the Northern Ireland Executive. Robinson resumed his duties on 20 October 2015.[6] On 19 November 2015, he announced that he would be stepping down as First Minister and as leader of the DUP.[7] Robinson subsequently stepped down as First Minister on 11 January 2016 and has now fully retired.[8]

Background

Peter David Robinson was born on 29 December 1948 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, the son of Sheila and David McCrea Robinson.

Robinson was educated at Annadale Grammar School and Castlereagh College, now part of the Belfast Metropolitan College.[9] Although Robinson's family had no background in unionist politics, he developed an interest in the politics of Northern Ireland as a teenager following the death of a school friend, Harry Beggs, killed that year in an IRA bombing at the Northern Ireland Electricity headquarters on the Malone Road.[9] Robinson initially gained employment as an estate agent for R.J. McConnell & Co and later with Alex, Murdoch & Deane in Belfast, and then he became the DUP's first general secretary in 1975.[9]

Political career

Member of the DUP

Robinson was General Secretary of the DUP between 1975 and 1979. He first stood in the election to the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention on 1 May 1975 in Belfast, East. Although he started in fifth place, he failed to get elected and was overtaken by his running mate Eileen Paisley.[10]

Robinson was elected as a councillor for Castlereagh Borough Council for the Castlereagh C area in the local government elections on 18 May 1977,[11] a seat he held until his resignation from the council on 2 July 2007.[12]

Member of Parliament and Executive Minister

Robinson was selected as DUP candidate for Belfast East during the 1979 general election, a seat which previously had a big Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) majority.[10] He won the seat with a 19.9%[10] swing to the DUP and a majority of 64,[10] with Alliance Party leader Oliver Napier 928[10] votes behind, unseating the MP former Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party leader and UUP candidate William Craig on 3 May 1979.

He was re-elected to the House of Commons in 1983, 1986 (along with other unionist MPs, he resigned his seat in protest at the Anglo-Irish Agreement on 17 December 1985 and was re-elected in the by-election the next year), 1987, 1992, 2001 and 2005. In the 2010 UK general election he lost Belfast East to Naomi Long of the Alliance Party.[13]

Robinson served on the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee from 1997 to July 2005.[14]

In the general election on 7 June 2001, Robinson's wife, Iris, joined him in Parliament as MP for Strangford.

Leadership of the Democratic Unionist Party

Robinson's electoral success was marked when he was elected Deputy Leader of the DUP in 1980. He was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly for Belfast East on 20 October 1982 where he served as Chairman of the Environment Committee until it was dissolved in 1986.[10]

In 1986 he was involved, alongside other DUP leaders, in the launch of Ulster Resistance at the Ulster Hall, an event chaired by the DUP. Robinson was later photographed wearing a beret at an Ulster Resistance rally.[15] The DUP later severed links with Ulster Resistance in 1987.

Robinson resigned briefly as DUP Deputy Leader in 1987 when the Task Force Report, written jointly with UUP members Harold McCusker MP and Frank Millar and calling for a strategic unionist rethink in the wake of the Anglo-Irish Agreement was rejected by their respective leaders, Ian Paisley and James Molyneaux.

He was elected to the Northern Ireland Forum on 30 May 1996 and served in it until it completed its work in 1998.[16] On 25 June 1998, he was elected MLA for Belfast East in the Northern Ireland Assembly election.[17] He was subsequently re-elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2003 and again in 2007.

Robinson was Minister for Regional Development, which has overall responsibility for the Department for Regional Development (DRD), between 29 November 1999 to 27 July 2000 and 24 October 2001 to 11 October 2002. He was responsible for the introduction of free fares on public transport for the elderly and helped formulate the 25-year Regional Development Strategy for Northern Ireland and devise the 10-year Regional Transport Strategy.

Robinson was Minister of Finance and Personnel from 8 May 2007 to June 2008.[18]

On 4 March 2008, Ian Paisley announced that he would step down as Leader of the DUP and First Minister that May.[19] On 14 April 2008, Robinson was nominated unanimously by the DUP MLAs as leader-designate with Nigel Dodds as deputy leader-designate and on 17 April 2008 they were both ratified by the DUP's 120-member executive committee.[20][21] He formally became leader on 31 May 2008.

First Minister of Northern Ireland
Robinson with George W. Bush (centre) and Martin McGuinness (left)
Robinson meets with United States President Barack Obama at the White House on St. Patrick's Day 2009.

As he was nominated by the largest party, Robinson was ratified by the Northern Ireland Assembly as First Minister with Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness as deputy First Minister on 5 June 2008.[22]

On 11 January 2010 Robinson announced that he was temporarily stepping down from the position of First Minister to clear his name over BBC allegations arising from the Iris Robinson scandal. Arlene Foster was designated to discharge the duties of First Minister until his return.[23] Robinson faced claims that he knew his wife had obtained £50,000 from two developers for her teenage lover but did not tell the proper authorities, leading to him asking the House of Commons and the Northern Ireland Assembly to carry out an inquiry into his conduct. After an OFMdFM lawyer advised Robinson that he had committed no wrongdoing, he returned to active duty as First Minister despite the ongoing investigations by the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the Assembly Commissioner for Standards and Privileges. While the police investigation into the conduct of the Peter and Iris Robinson concluded in a recommendation not to prosecute in 2011, the Standards and Privileges enquiry remained incomplete three years after it was ordered by the Assembly. It was delayed as Iris Robinson was adjudged medically unfit to respond to the enquiry.[24] The report was finally completed at the beginning of 2014, and finally made publicly available on 28 November 2014.[25] Section 13 of the report stated that the three BBC allegations against Robinson "even if established after investigation", did not breach of the Code of Conduct.

On 5 February 2010, Robinson and McGuinness oversaw the devolution of policing and justice powers from the British Parliament to the Northern Ireland Assembly, negotiating a power-sharing deal with Sinn Féin.[26] This process ensured that devolution in Northern Ireland was able to be fully completed.[26] At the 2011 Assembly election, both the DUP and Sinn Féin increased their number of seats. Robinson had led the DUP to its best ever Assembly election result. Robinson and McGuinness were sworn in for a second term as First Minister and Deputy First Minister respectively shortly afterwards.

In 2012, Robinson was involved in the historic visit of Queen Elizabeth II to Northern Ireland, when she shook hands with Martin McGuinness. Robinson supported the event, saying, "We recognise that this will be a difficult ask for Her Majesty The Queen and a significant step for republicans. The process has required us all to reach out and take decisions outside our comfort zone. It is the right decision and a step forward for Northern Ireland."[27]

On 19 November 2015, Robinson announced he would be stepping down as Northern Ireland First Minister and leader of the DUP. Although he had recently suffered a heart attack, he stated his health was not the main reason behind his decision to stand down.[7] He did not contest the 2016 Northern Ireland Assembly election.[28]

Robinson speaking at Titanic Belfast as Martin McGuinness looks on, 2012

Political and personal controversies


Invasion of Clontibret
Main article: Clontibret invasion

On 7 August 1986, in protest at the Anglo-Irish Agreement, Robinson led a group of loyalists into the village of Clontibret in County Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland to demonstrate the lack of security along the Irish border following a bomb attack that killed 12 policemen. The loyalists attacked the unmanned Garda station in the village and daubed loyalist slogans on the walls. They then held a parade along the main street and attacked two Gardaí. More Gardaí arrived shortly after and fired shots in the air, scattering the loyalist crowd. Robinson was arrested and held at Monaghan Garda station. He pleaded guilty to unlawful assembly and was fined IR£17,500 in a Drogheda court. There was also violence both before and after a court appearance in Dundalk, when both Robinson and Ian Paisley were attacked. Republicans also threw stones and petrol bombs at flag-waving Robinson supporters.[29] At his trial one of the judges who described him as "a senior extremist politician" was savaged by Robinson's legal team.[30][31]

Ulster Resistance

In November 1986, Paisley and Robinson spoke at the Ulster Hall demonstration which launched Ulster Resistance (UR), the organisation was intended to act as a protector for beleaguered unionists who were under attack from the IRA. The organisation subsequently imported arms from South Africa, resulting in Paisley and Robinson dissociating themselves from the organisation.[31][32] He was photographed wearing the group's beret at an Ulster Resistance demonstration.

Views on homosexuality

On 30 October 2008, in his first extensive interview as First Minister (for Hearts and Minds on BBC Northern Ireland), Peter Robinson stated that homosexuality was against Christian theology.

Robinson's wife, Iris, had quoted the Bible which said that homosexuality was an abomination and that with help, gay people could be "turned around". A police investigation was initiated amid claims "her comments breached hate crime laws. No charges were brought."[33] Peter Robinson supported his wife's statements, saying: "It wasn't Iris Robinson who determined that homosexuality was an abomination, it was The Almighty. This is the Scriptures. It is a strange world indeed where somebody on the one hand talks about equality, but won't allow Christians to have the equality, the right to speak, the right to express their views."[34]

Planning application

On 28 May 2009 the Planning Service of Northern Ireland granted a developer planning permission for six houses to be built on land, part of which, was Robinson's rear garden on the Gransha Road[35] in the Dundonald area of East Belfast.[36]

On 30 March 2010, the BBC reported that Robinson had purchased a piece of land from a developer for £5, enabling him to sell part of his back garden for nearly £460,000.[37] Robinson later claimed that the inaccurate report was evidence that the BBC were leading a smear campaign against him.[38]

BBC Spotlight investigation
Main article: Iris Robinson scandal

On 8 January 2010 the BBC Northern Ireland programme Spotlight[39] reported on how his wife, Iris, had obtained £50,000 for Kirk McCambley, 19 at the time, while in a sexual relationship with him.[40] On the day before the Spotlight programme, Peter Robinson had made an emotional statement to the Press Association, BBC, UTV and RTÉ in regard to the relationship and stated that there had been no financial wrongdoing.[41] The programme maintained that when Robinson found out about the financial aspects of his wife's relationship he insisted that the money she had lobbied two property developers for and which she subsequently lent and gave to her lover be returned in full. It claimed that he did not tell the proper authorities what he knew about the transactions between the four, despite being obliged by the Northern Ireland Executive ministerial code of conduct to act in the public interest at all times. Later that day Robinson's solicitors said he was thoroughly satisfied that he had at all times acted properly and fulfilled all requirements, and would robustly challenge any allegation to the contrary.[40] On the following day, Robinson maintained that he had "learned from Spotlight for the first time some alleged aspects of my wife's affair and her financial arrangements" and that he would be "resolutely defending attacks on my character and contesting any allegations of wrongdoing".[42] A series of investigations cleared Robinson.

FAIR censorship allegations

According to a report on the website of the Families Acting for Innocent Relatives (FAIR) non-governmental organisation, in 2007 Peter Robinson wrote to its director Willie Frazer, telling him he "might find it much easier to get co-operation with political representatives if you were genuinely involved in Victim Support rather than opposition politics".[43] Robinson's principal private secretary was found to have been involved, in February 2010, in trying to have criticism of the DUP's working relationship with Sinn Féin censored from FAIR's website. UUP leader Reg Empey asked whether this amounted to party political use of the office.[44] Seven months later FAIR's funding by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB) was stopped following allegations of financial irregularities in the group. Frazer stepped down as director after reading the report.

Pastor McConnell support and Islam

In May 2014, Robinson was widely criticized after he told The Irish News that he supported Whitewell Metropolitan Tabernacle Pastor James McConnell's right as a pastor to make remarks about Islam.[45][46] In a sermon the pastor had stated "Islam is heathen, Islam is satanic, Islam is a doctrine spawned in hell." Robinson said that like the pastor he would not "trust them" for spiritual guidance, speaking of Muslims who follow a strict interpretation of Sharia law.[47] Pastor McConnell was found not guilty of two charges related to his sermon in 2016 - improper use of a public electronic communications network and causing a grossly offensive message to be sent by means of a public electronic communications network.[48]

On 30 May, leaders of Northern Ireland's Muslim community met with Robinson at Stormont Castle and accepted his clarification of the situation. He also accepted an invitation to the Belfast Islamic Centre.[49] [50] After meeting members of the Islamic community he said he would be visiting the Centre again, a place where he felt welcome and respected.

Personal life

Robinson married Iris Collins on 26 July 1970; they have three children, Jonathan, Gareth and Rebekah. His wife has joined him as a councillor, an MLA and an MP. Their son, Gareth Robinson was also member of Castlereagh (borough). They were the first husband and wife ever to represent Northern Ireland constituencies in Parliament. His daughter, Rebekah, served as his private secretary for his Advice Centre in the East Belfast constituency. Hazel Kerr serves as the office's main secretary. He is a supporter of Rangers[51] and Tottenham Hotspur and has expressed admiration for former Spurs player Gareth Bale. Robinson is also a fan of his local Belfast football team Glentoran.[52]

Robinson is an evangelical Pentecostal Christian. Despite originally attending Ian Paisley's Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster, he left in the late 1970s and joined Elim Pentecostal Church and then the Assemblies of God. Robinson was the driving force behind the DUPs secular appeal and leaving the FPCU was perhaps apart of this strategy.[53]

He owns property in Belfast. In 2014 he and his wife sold their luxury villa in Florida and London apartment.[54]

He is author of a number of books and pamphlets on local politics and history including: The Union Under Fire (1995); Sinn Féin – A Case for Proscription (1993); Hands off the UDR (1990); Their Cry was no Surrender (1986); Ulster in Peril (1984); Carson – Man of Action (1984); It's Londonderry (1984); A War to be Won (1983); Self-Inflicted (1981); Ulster the Facts (1981); Savagery and Suffering (1975); Capital Punishment for Capital Crime (1974); Give Me Liberty (no date); Ulster—the Prey (no date).[55]

On 25 May 2015, he suffered a suspected heart attack and was admitted to hospital.[56]

Satire

Robinson's character on the BBC's Folks on the Hill television programme is portrayed as aggressive and constantly trying to get away from the Ian Paisley-Martin McGuinness so-called "Chuckle Brothers" image when he works with Martin McGuinness.[57]

gollark: That's probably very commonm
gollark: Which *also* do not really deliver such modularity.
gollark: The trend now is in microservices arguably.
gollark: All my code is HIGHLY business-grade apart from the lack of classes.
gollark: Well, I can easily start stuff and get it to "technically working" but then get bored and don't want to go to "actually usable".

See also
  • Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister
  • List of Northern Ireland members of the Privy Council

References
  1. "Robinson to follow Paisley path". BBC News. 14 April 2008. Retrieved 15 April 2008.
  2. "Robinson is new NI First Minister". BBC News. 5 June 2008. Retrieved 15 April 2008.
  3. "Peter Robinson steps aside as NI First Minister". BBC News. 11 January 2010. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
  4. "DUP disclose part of the Finance Department's legal advice". BBC News. 18 February 2010. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
  5. "Northern Ireland Parties agree Power-Sharing Deal". BBC News. 5 February 2010. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
  6. "DUP ministers to resume Northern Ireland Executive posts". BBC News. 20 October 2015. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
  7. "Peter Robinson: NI first minister set to quit within weeks". BBC News. 19 November 2015. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  8. "Arlene Foster: DUP leader becomes new NI first minister". BBC News. 11 January 2016.
  9. "Peter Robinson: Timeline of NI first minister and DUP leader's life". bbc.com. BBC. 21 November 2015.
  10. Dr. Nicholas Whyte. "ARK". ARK. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
  11. "ARK". ARK. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
  12. "Robinson resigns from Castlereagh", BBC News, 2 July 2007. Retrieved 5 June 2008.
  13. "Naomi Long beats Peter Robinson to win in East Belfast"
  14. "UK Parliament". Parliament of the United Kingdom. Archived from the original on 15 March 2009. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
  15. Devenport, Mark (14 April 2008). "Cooler style of patient Robinson". BBC News.
  16. Dr Nicholas Whyte. "ARK". ARK. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
  17. Dr Nicholas Whyte. "ARK". ARK. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
  18. "Northern Ireland Executive". Northernireland.gov.uk. 29 September 2009. Archived from the original on 22 August 2007. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
  19. "Paisley to quit as First Minister". BBC News. 4 March 2008. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
  20. "Robinson to follow Paisley path". BBC News. 14 April 2008. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
  21. "Robinson confirmed as DUP leader". BBC News. 17 April 2008. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
  22. "Robinson is new NI first minister", BBC News, 5 June 2008. Retrieved 5 June 2008.
  23. "Robinson takes six-week break from First Minister role". BBC News. 11 January 2010. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
  24. Belfast Telegraph report, 21 September 2012
  25. "Report on the investigation into allegations made in the BBC Spotlight Programme broadcast on 7 January 2010". Archived from the original on 2 April 2015.
  26. "NI parties agree deal on policing". BBC News. 5 February 2010.
  27. "BBC News – Robinson says Sinn Féin right to meet Queen". BBC News. Missing or empty |url= (help)
  28. Clarke, Liam (19 November 2015). "DUP's Peter Robinson: I'm standing down within weeks". The Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  29. Dr Martin Melaugh. "CAIN". Cain.ulst.ac.uk. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
  30. Northern Ireland: A Chronology of the Troubles, 1968–99 by Paul Bew, page 202
  31. Profile: Peter Robinson: Poised to take reins from the Big Man
  32. Wood, Ian S. Crimes of Loyalty: A History of the UDA (ISBN 0-7486-2427-9), page 133
  33. "Iris Robinson 'hypocrite' – gay campaigner Tatchell". BBC. 7 January 2010. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
  34. "First Minister Peter Robinson backs wife's view that gays are an 'abomination'". The Belfast Telegraph. 31 October 2008. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
  35. "Google maps UK". Google Maps. 1 January 1970. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
  36. "Robinson 'garden grab' is passed". BBC News. 28 May 2009. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
  37. "Robinson bought 'key land' for £5". BBC News. 30 March 2010. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
  38. "Robinson denies land wrongdoing". BBC News. 2 April 2010. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
  39. Edwards, Richard (7 January 2010). "Iris Robinson's lover named as Kirk McCambley". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
  40. "Iris Robinson business deal broke law". BBC News. 8 January 2010. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
  41. "Peter Robinson statement in full". BBC News. 6 January 2010. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
  42. Statement by Peter Robinson, 8 January 2010
  43. "Letter to Peter Robinson & His Response!". Victims.org.uk. Archived from the original on 4 June 2012. Retrieved 13 May 2012.
  44. "OFMDFM challenged in victims' website row". Newsletter.co.uk. 6 July 2011. Retrieved 13 May 2012.
  45. Muslim rant sermon: Fury and hurt as First Minister Peter Robinson backs Islam row pastor McConnell Belfast Telegraph 29 May 2014
  46. Ulster and Islam: Minarets and steeples, The Economist.
  47. Belfast pastor James McConnell denounces Islam as the devil's doctrine at Whitewell Metropolitan Tabernacle church sermon Belfast Telegraph 21 May 2014
  48. "Pastor McConnell not guilty of 'grossly offensive' remarks about Islam". BBC News UK. 5 January 2016.
  49. Northern Ireland Muslim leaders accept Robinson apology Belfast Newsletter 30 May 2014
  50. Northern Ireland's Peter Robinson apologises for Muslim comments The Guardian. 3 June 2014
  51. Video on YouTube
  52. "I'd love to be Gareth Bale says First Minister Peter Robinson" Belfast Telegraph 10 May 2012
  53. Moloney, Ed (2008). Paisley: From Demagogue to Democratic?. Dublin: Poolbeg Press Ltd. pp. 250–251.
  54. "Robinsons sell US holiday home: First Minister loses £81,100 on family's luxury villa in the Florida sun". BelfastTelegraph.co.uk.
  55. "Peter Robinson". Blakes Parliamentary Yearbook. Archived from the original on 7 July 2013.
  56. "NI First Minister Peter Robinson has suspected heart attack". BBC News. 25 May 2015.
  57. "Folks on the Hill". BBC News. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
Party political offices
New political party General Secretary of the Democratic Unionist Party
1975–1979		 Succeeded by
William Beattie
Preceded by
William Beattie		 Deputy Leader of the Democratic Unionist Party
1980–2008		 Succeeded by
Nigel Dodds
Preceded by
Ian Paisley		 Leader of the Democratic Unionist Party
2008–2015		 Succeeded by
Arlene Foster
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
William Craig		 Member of Parliament
for Belfast East
1979–2010		 Succeeded by
Naomi Long
Northern Ireland Assembly (1982)
New assembly Member of the Parliamentary Assembly
for East Belfast
1982–1986		 Assembly abolished
Northern Ireland Forum
New forum Member of the Northern Ireland Forum
for East Belfast
1996–1998		 Forum abolished
Northern Ireland Assembly
New assembly Member of the Legislative Assembly
for East Belfast
1998–2016		 Succeeded by
Joanne Bunting
Political offices
New office Minister for Regional Development
1999–2000		 Succeeded by
Gregory Campbell
Preceded by
Gregory Campbell		 Minister for Regional Development
2001–2002		 Vacant
Office suspended
Title next held by
Conor Murphy
Vacant
Office suspended
Title last held by
Sean Farren		 Minister of Finance and Personnel
2007–2008		 Succeeded by
Nigel Dodds
Preceded by
Ian Paisley		 First Minister of Northern Ireland
2008–2016		 Succeeded by
Arlene Foster
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