View source for Prime Minister of Northern Ireland

{{Short description|Head of the Northern Ireland government (1921–72)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2024}}
{{Distinguish|First Minister and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland}}
{{Infobox political post
| post           = Prime Minister  
| body           = Northern Ireland
| insignia       = Coat of Arms of Northern Ireland.svg
| insigniasize   = 200px
| insigniacaption= Arms of the Executive Committee
| image          = 
| imagesize      = 
| nominator      = [[Northern Ireland House of Commons|House of Commons]]
| appointer      = [[Governor of Northern Ireland]]
| termlength     = {{raise|0.3em|[[At His Majesty's pleasure]]}}
| termlength_qualified = {{small|{{raise|0.4em|so long as [[Elections in Northern Ireland|General Elections]] are held no more than five years apart.}}}}
| formation      = 7 June 1921
| inaugural      = [[Sir James Craig]]
| last           = [[Brian Faulkner]]
| abolished      = 30 March 1972 {{small|([[Northern Ireland (Temporary Provisions) Act 1972|suspended]])}}<br />18 July 1973 {{small|([[Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973|abolished]])}}
suspended in 1972 and then abolished in 1973, along with the contemporary government, when [[Direct rule (Northern Ireland)|direct rule]] of [[Northern Ireland]] was transferred to London.
| succession     = 
* [[Executive of the 1974 Northern Ireland Assembly#Chief Executive|Chief and deputy-Chief Executive]] (1 Jan–28 May 1974)
* [[First Minister and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland|First Minister and deputy First Minister]] (1 July 1998–)
}}

The '''prime minister of Northern Ireland''' was the head of the [[Government of Northern Ireland (1921–1972)|Government of Northern Ireland]] between 1921 and 1972. No such office was provided for in the [[Government of Ireland Act 1920]];<ref>Alan J. Ward, ''The Irish Constitutional Tradition'', p.111.</ref> however, the [[Lord Lieutenant of Ireland]],<ref>The new office of governor had not yet come into being because its creation required an amendment to the original Act. The [[lord lieutenant of Ireland]] had originally been granted the role and exercised the powers, functions and duties pending the creation of governor's post in 1922. Ward, p.116.</ref> as with [[governors-general]] in other [[Westminster system]]s such as in [[Canada]], chose to appoint someone to head the executive even though no such post existed in [[statute law]]. The office-holder assumed the title ''prime minister'' to draw parallels with the [[prime minister of the United Kingdom]]. On the advice of the new prime minister, the lord lieutenant then created the ''Department of the Prime Minister''.<ref>Ward, p.116.</ref> The office of Prime Minister of Northern Ireland was suspended in 1972 and then abolished in 1973, along with the contemporary government, when [[Direct rule (Northern Ireland)|direct rule]] of [[Northern Ireland]] was transferred to London.

The Government of Ireland Act provided for the appointment of the executive committee of the [[Privy Council of Northern Ireland]] by the [[Governor of Northern Ireland|governor]].<ref>Government of Ireland Act 1920, s. 8.</ref> No parliamentary vote was required. Nor, theoretically, was the executive committee and its prime minister ''responsible'' to  the [[House of Commons of Northern Ireland]]. In reality the governor chose the leader of the party with a majority in the House to form a government. On each occasion this was the leader of the [[Ulster Unionist Party]]; such was the UUP's electoral dominance using both a simple plurality and for the first two elections, a proportional electoral system. All prime ministers of Northern Ireland were members of the [[Orange Order]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-18769781|title=Who are the Orangemen?|work=[[BBC News]]|date=11 July 2012|quote=By the 20th century, the Order had pervaded the highest echelons of society. Every prime minister of Northern Ireland, from Partition in 1921 to the return of direct rule in 1972, was an Orangeman, as are a number of current ministers in the Northern Ireland Executive.}}</ref>

The prime minister's residence from 1920 until 1922 was Cabin Hill, later to become the junior school for [[Campbell College]]. After 1922 [[Stormont Castle]] was used, though some prime ministers chose to live in [[Stormont House]], the unused residence of the [[Speaker of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland]].

The new offices of [[first minister and deputy first minister]] were created by the [[Good Friday Agreement]] of 1998. In contrast with the Westminster-style system of the earlier Stormont government, the new [[Northern Ireland Executive]] operates on the principles of [[consociational democracy]].

In 1974, [[Brian Faulkner]] was chosen to lead the [[Northern Ireland Executive]] not as Prime Minister of Northern Ireland but as [[Chief Executive of Northern Ireland]].

==List of officeholders==
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
!colspan=2|No.
!width=170|Name<br />{{small|(Birth–Death)}}<br />{{small|Constituency}}
!Portrait
!colspan=2|Term of office
!width=80|Elected<br />{{small|(Parliament)}}
!Ministry
!Party
!Last office(s) held before election
|-
! style="background:{{party color|Ulster Unionist Party}};" rowspan=5|
|rowspan=5|1.
|rowspan=5|'''[[James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon|Sir James Craig]]''' (created '''1st [[Viscount Craigavon]]''' in 1927)<ref>[[Viscount Craigavon]] from 1927</ref><br />{{small|(1871–1940)}}<br />{{small|MP for [[Down (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)|Down]] until 1929<br />MP for [[North Down (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)|North Down]] from 1929}}
|rowspan=5|[[File:James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon.jpg|75px]]
|rowspan=5|7 June 1921
|rowspan=5|24 November 1940
|[[1921 Northern Ireland general election|1921]] ([[List of members of the 1st House of Commons of Northern Ireland|1st]])
|rowspan=5|[[Craigavon ministry|Craigavon]]
|rowspan=5|[[Ulster Unionist Party]]
|rowspan=5|[[Secretary to the Admiralty|Parliamentary and Financial<br />Secretary to the Admiralty]]<br />(1920–1921)
|-
|[[1925 Northern Ireland general election|1925]] ([[List of members of the 2nd House of Commons of Northern Ireland|2nd]])
|-
|[[1929 Northern Ireland general election|1929]] ([[List of members of the 3rd House of Commons of Northern Ireland|3rd]])
|-
|[[1933 Northern Ireland general election|1933]] ([[List of members of the 4th House of Commons of Northern Ireland|4th]])
|-
|[[1938 Northern Ireland general election|1938]] ([[List of members of the 5th House of Commons of Northern Ireland|5th]])
|-
! style="background:{{party color|Ulster Unionist Party}};" |
|2.
|'''[[J. M. Andrews|John Miller Andrews]]'''<br />{{small|(1871–1956)}}<br />{{small|MP for [[Mid Down (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)|Mid Down]]}}
|[[File:John Millers Andrews (cropped).png|75px]]
|27 November 1940
|1 May 1943
| — ([[List of members of the 5th House of Commons of Northern Ireland|5th]])
|[[Andrews ministry (Northern Ireland)|Andrews]]
|Ulster Unionist Party
|[[Minister of Finance (Northern Ireland)|Minister of Finance]] (1937–1941)
|-
! style="background:{{party color|Ulster Unionist Party}};" rowspan=6|
|rowspan=6|3.       
|rowspan=6|'''[[Basil Brooke, 1st Viscount Brookeborough|Sir Basil Brooke]]''' (created '''[[Viscount Brookeborough|The 1st Viscount Brookeborough]]''' in 1952)<ref>[[Viscount Brookeborough]] from 1952</ref><br />{{small|(1888–1973)}}<br />{{small|MP for [[Lisnaskea (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)|Lisnaskea]]}}
|rowspan=6|[[File:Sir Basil Brooke, 10 February 1941.png|75px]]
|rowspan=6|1 May 1943
|rowspan=6|26 March 1963
| — ([[List of members of the 5th House of Commons of Northern Ireland|5th]])
|rowspan=6|[[Brookeborough ministry|Brookeborough]]
|rowspan=6|Ulster Unionist Party
|rowspan=6|[[Minister of Commerce (Northern Ireland)|Minister of Commerce]]<br />(1941–1943)
|-
| [[1945 Northern Ireland general election|1945]] ([[List of members of the 6th House of Commons of Northern Ireland|6th]])
|-
| [[1949 Northern Ireland general election|1949]] ([[List of members of the 7th House of Commons of Northern Ireland|7th]])
|-
| [[1953 Northern Ireland general election|1953]] ([[List of members of the 8th House of Commons of Northern Ireland|8th]])
|-
| [[1958 Northern Ireland general election|1958]] ([[List of members of the 9th House of Commons of Northern Ireland|9th]])
|-
| [[1962 Northern Ireland general election|1962]] ([[List of members of the 10th House of Commons of Northern Ireland|10th]])
|-
! style="background:{{party color|Ulster Unionist Party}};" rowspan=3|
|rowspan=3|4.
|rowspan=3|'''[[Terence O'Neill]]'''<br />{{small|(1914–1990)}}<br />{{small|MP for [[Bannside (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)|Bannside]]}}
|rowspan=3|[[File:Prime Minister of Northern Ireland. Captain Rt. Hon. Terence O'Neill 1966 (cropped).png|75px]]
|rowspan=3|25 March 1963
|rowspan=3|1 May 1969
| — ([[List of members of the 10th House of Commons of Northern Ireland|10th]])
|rowspan=3|[[O'Neill ministry|O'Neill]]
|rowspan=3|Ulster Unionist Party
|rowspan=3|Minister of Finance (1956–1963)
|-
| [[1965 Northern Ireland general election|1965]] ([[List of members of the 11th House of Commons of Northern Ireland|11th]])
|-
| [[1969 Northern Ireland general election|1969]] ([[List of members of the 12th House of Commons of Northern Ireland|12th]])
|-
! style="background:{{party color|Ulster Unionist Party}};" |
|5.
|'''[[James Chichester-Clark]]'''<br />{{small|(1923–2002)}}<br />{{small|MP for [[South Londonderry (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)|South Londonderry]]}}
|[[File:James Chichester-Clark 1970.jpg|75px]]
|1 May 1969
|23 March 1971
| — ([[List of members of the 12th House of Commons of Northern Ireland|12th]])
|[[Chichester-Clark ministry|Chichester-Clark]]
|Ulster Unionist Party
|[[Minister of Agriculture (Northern Ireland)|Minister of Agriculture]] (1967–1969)<br />[[Minister and Leader of the House of Commons|Leader of the House of Commons]] (1968–1969)
|-
! style="background:{{party color|Ulster Unionist Party}};" |
|6.
|'''[[Brian Faulkner]]'''<br />{{small|(1921–1977)}}<br />{{small|MP for [[East Down (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)|East Down]]}}
|[[File:Brian Faulkner, c. 1940s (cropped).jpg|75px]] 
|23 March 1971
|30 March 1972
| — ([[List of members of the 12th House of Commons of Northern Ireland|12th]])
|[[Faulkner ministry|Faulkner]]
|Ulster Unionist Party
|[[Minister of Development (Northern Ireland)|Minister of Development]] (1969–1971)
|}

== Parliamentary Secretary, Department of the Prime Minister ==
* 1921–1929 [[Algernon Skeffington, 12th Viscount Massereene]]
* 1929–1930 [[Maxwell Ward, 6th Viscount Bangor]]
* 1930–1941 [[Senate of Northern Ireland|Senator]] [[John Andrew Long]]
* 1941–1948 Sir [[Joseph Davison]]
* 1948–1960 [[Senate of Northern Ireland|Senator]] [[William Moore Wallis Clark]]
* 1960–1970 [[Senate of Northern Ireland|Senator]] [[Daniel McGladdery]]
* 1970–1972 [[Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)|Captain]] [[John Brooke, 2nd Viscount Brookeborough|John Brooke]], [[Member of Parliament|M.P.]]

== Additional Parliamentary Secretary, Department of the Prime Minister ==
* 1969 [[Robert Simpson (Northern Ireland politician)|Bob Simpson]]

== Footnotes ==
{{reflist}}

== Sources==
* Alan J. Ward, ''The Irish Constitutional Tradition'' (Irish Academic Press, 1994)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070929091726/http://www.politics.ie/wiki/index.php?title=Government_of_Ireland_Act,_1920_(Document) Government of Ireland Act, 1920]
* [http://www.election.demon.co.uk/stormont/administration.html The Government of Northern Ireland]

{{Northern Ireland heads of government}}
{{Northern Ireland departments 1921-1972}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prime Minister Of Northern Ireland}}
[[Category:Executive Committee of the Privy Council of Northern Ireland]]
[[Category:Prime ministers of Northern Ireland| ]]