Edwin Poots

Edwin Poots (born 27 April 1965) 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.

His father, Charles Poots, was also a DUP politician, having stood in the 1969 Northern Ireland general election for the Protestant Unionist Party.

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.

Poots served as a local government councillor on Lisburn City Council before being elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly in the 1998 election.

During 2003 to 2024, Poots served on multiple Assembly committees.

In 2007, First Minister Ian Paisley appointed Poots to the Northern Ireland Executive as Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure.

On 8 May 2007, he was appointed Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure in the Northern Ireland Executive, a post he held until 9 June 2008, when a cabinet re-shuffle saw this post being reassigned to Gregory Campbell.

Poots left office after Peter Robinson became First Minister in 2008.

He was subsequently made Deputy Mayor of Lisburn on 23 June 2008.

In 2009, Poots returned to the Executive as Minister of the Environment, before being promoted to Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety in 2011.

On 1 July 2009, Poots was returned to the Executive as Minister of the Environment, in charge of the Department of the Environment.

In May 2011, he was appointed as Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety.

In June 2011, Poots fired his legal shotgun twice from his upstairs window as a warning to intruders on his property in Lisburn, who then fled.

His family called the police and an investigation began.

A DUP spokesman said "Given the risk to Mr Poots and his family, a legally held shotgun was safely discharged into the air by Mr Poots from within his house to alert the intruders that their presence was known."

He was removed as Health Minister in 2014.

On 23 September 2014, Poots was replaced by Jim Wells as Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety.

One of Edwin Poots's sons, Luke Poots, was a councillor with Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council, but he did not seek reelection in the 2019 Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council election.

In January 2020, he was reappointed to the Executive by First Minister Arlene Foster as Minister of Agriculture, Environment, and Rural Affairs, a position that he held until October 2022.

After Foster resigned as DUP leader in 2021, Poots was elected as her successor, defeating Sir Jeffrey Donaldson.

However, less than three weeks later, on 17 June, following controversy over his decision to nominate Paul Givan to be First Minister, Poots announced that he had requested a new leadership contest and that he would remain in post until a successor was appointed.

Donaldson succeeded Poots on 30 June 2021.

Following the death of his friend Christopher Stalford, it was announced on 7 March 2022 that Poots would be co-opted to fill the Belfast South Assembly seat, and run in the 2022 Assembly election, leaving a vacancy in Lagan Valley.

In February 2024, Poots was elected as the 7th Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Poots was educated at the Wallace High School, Lisburn, and then studied at Greenmount Agricultural College.

He is a farmer and is married with four children.

When devolution was restored on 11 January 2020, First Minister Arlene Foster appointed Poots as Minister of Agriculture, Environment, and Rural Affairs.

Gordon Lyons served as the acting Agriculture Minister from 2 February to 8 March 2021 after Poots stood down temporarily for health reasons.

On 29 April 2021, Poots announced his candidacy in the party leadership election in May to succeed Arlene Foster as DUP leader, the day after Foster declared she would be resigning.

Poots was announced as leader of the DUP on 14 May 2021, beating Sir Jeffrey Donaldson by 19 votes to 17.

He was ratified as the party's leader on 28 May.

Some DUP members spoke of their "disgust" at the way in which Foster had been ousted.

There were claims that Poots' supporters engaged in bullying and intimidation during the leadership election, and some party members walked out before his speech.

Poots admitted party members are "bruised" but denied claims of intimidation.

Several party members resigned, including councillors.

The First Minister had always been the leader of the largest party, but Poots said he did not want to be First Minister if he became DUP leader.

On 8 June, Poots unveiled his ministerial team, which included Paul Givan as First Minister.

On 17 June 2021, a letter from the DUP party chairman and other senior party members asked Poots to delay Givan's nomination as First Minister to oppose the British government's decision to introduce Irish language legislation in the Westminster Parliament.