Next Northern Ireland Assembly election

Section 7 of the Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014 (c. 13) specifies that elections will be held on the first Thursday in May on the fifth calendar year following that in which its predecessor was elected, which is 6 May 2027; however, there are several circumstances in which the Assembly can be dissolved earlier. After the 2022 Assembly election, the DUP declined to join in forming a government due to its opposition to the Northern Ireland Protocol on post-Brexit trading arrangements. If no government is formed within six months, the United Kingdom Government's Northern Ireland Secretary has to call a new election early or come up with some other solution. No government was formed by the deadline. Rather than call a new election, Heaton-Harris introduced legislation to extend the deadline, The new deadline also passed with no resolution. Heaton-Harris produced a further extension through legislation via the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation and Organ and Tissue Donation) Act 2023. On 27 February 2023, the UK and EU announced the Windsor Framework to make changes to the Northern Ireland Protocol. It was hoped that this would lead to formation of an Assembly executive; however, the DUP boycott continued. Heaton-Harris again brought primary legislation to further extend the deadline to 8 February 2024, via the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation) Act 2024. On 30 January, the DUP announced that they would accept a deal conditional on legislation being passed by the UK government that saw them agreeing to form an executive with Sinn Fein. A new executive was formed on 3 February 2024. ==Members not seeking re-election==