2016 Northern Ireland Assembly election
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.
Image: MLA Arlene Foster
Image: Martin Mc Guinness in Jan 2017 (headshot)
Image: Colum Eastwood MLA
Image: David Ford Alliance
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.
Official portrait, 2024
Foster as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment in 2012.
British Prime Minister Theresa May meets with Foster and deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness in 2016.
Vice President of the United States Kamala Harris meets with First Minister Arlene Foster in March 2021.