How the Executive Is Formed
After every Assembly election, Northern Ireland’s government — the Executive — has to be formed from the parties elected. Unlike most parliaments, there is no single “winning party” that governs alone: ministerial posts are shared between the larger parties by a mathematical formula. This guide explains how the First Minister and deputy First Minister are appointed, how the other ministers get their jobs, and what the Executive actually does.
First Minister and deputy First Minister: a joint office
The First Minister and deputy First Minister jointly head the Executive. Despite the titles, the two offices are equal in power: neither can act without the other, and if either resigns, both offices fall.
Under the current rules, the nomination works from the election result: the largest party of the largest community designation nominates the First Minister, and the largest party of the second-largest designation nominates the deputy First Minister. Together they head The Executive Office (TEO), supported by two junior ministers.
Crucially, the Executive cannot function unless both posts are filled. If either of the two entitled parties declines to nominate, no Executive can be formed — this is why the institutions have at times been unable to operate (most recently between February 2022 and February 2024).
d'Hondt: how the other ministries are shared out
The remaining departmental ministries (except Justice — see below) are allocated using the d’Hondt method, a divisor formula that shares posts between parties in proportion to their Assembly seats.
It works like a repeated auction. Each party’s seat total is divided by one plus the number of ministries it has already taken. Whichever party has the highest resulting figure picks next — and chooses whichever available department it wants. The process repeats until all posts are filled. Larger parties pick first and more often, but any party with enough seats is entitled to a share of government — there is no negotiation over who gets in, only over who takes which department.
A party entitled to seats can instead decline them and go into official opposition, an option formalised in 2016.
The Justice exception
The Department of Justice is the one departmental ministry not allocated by d’Hondt. Because of the sensitivity of policing and justice — devolved only in 2010 — the Justice Minister is elected by a cross-community vote of the whole Assembly, meaning the appointee needs support from both unionist and nationalist MLAs.
What the Executive does
Each minister heads one of the nine departments, setting its policy and priorities within the law and the budget. The ministers meet collectively as the Executive Committee, chaired jointly by the First Minister and deputy First Minister, to agree a Programme for Government, the annual Budget, and any significant or cross-cutting policy decisions. Certain contentious decisions must come to the full Executive rather than being taken by one minister alone.
Ministers are bound by a Ministerial Code and remain accountable to the Assembly: they answer Assembly questions, appear before the statutory committee that shadows their department, and need Assembly approval for their legislation and spending.
You can see the current minister for every department, and the committee that scrutinises them, in our departments directory.
Sources: Northern Ireland Act 1998 (ss. 16A–18) as amended; Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive Office public information. Ministerial data on this site is synced from the Assembly’s official open-data services. Last reviewed: July 2026.