State or region
First Minister
How it's filled
- In plain words
- Nominated by the nominating officer of the largest party of the largest political designation
- Exact method
- Jointly holds office with the deputy First Minister. Nominated by the nominating officer of the largest party of the largest political designation (nationalist, unionist or other); there is no Assembly vote. Takes up office on affirming the pledge of office (Northern Ireland Act 1998 s.16A, as amended by the Northern Ireland (St Andrews Agreement) Act 2006). Held office since 3 February 2024 after the Executive was restored. Equal in status to the deputy First Minister.
- Seats
- 1
Who holds it now
Michelle O'Neill SF since February 2024
Report Source: data.niassembly.gov.uk,
checked (+2 more)
Sources
- legislation.gov.uk · checked Northern Ireland Act 1998 s.16A (as read by verify:gb-regions 2026-10-12): nominated by the nominating officer of the largest party of the largest designation, no Assembly vote. The Assembly does not choose the holder. For: First Minister
- legislation.gov.uk · checked legislation.gov.uk, Northern Ireland Act 1998 s.16A (revised), read 2026-10-12: First Minister nominated by the nominating officer of the largest party of the largest designation; no provision for an Assembly vote; office taken up on affirming the pledge. Corrected selection_detail ("confirmed by the Assembly" was wrong). For: First Minister
- data.niassembly.gov.uk · checked Northern Ireland Assembly open data, GetAllCurrentMembers, read 2026-10-12: current 90 MLAs, constituency, party. For: First Minister, Michelle O'Neill, current term
- data.niassembly.gov.uk · checked NI Assembly open data, GetAllMemberRoles, read 2026-10-12: Michelle O'Neill, First Minister, The Executive Office, from 2024-02-03. Official confirmation replacing Wikipedia fallback. For: Michelle O'Neill, current term
- northernireland.gov.uk · checked Michelle O'Neill First Minister since 3 Feb 2024; no change reported to 2026-10-12. Fallback: Wikipedia Northern Ireland Executive / Next NI Assembly election, because nidirect pages not fetched. For: Michelle O'Neill, current term