Member of the Legislative Assembly (Northern Ireland)

Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs; Irish: Comhaltaí den Tionól Reachtach; Ulster Scots: Laa-Makkan Forgaitherars) are representatives elected by the voters to the Northern Ireland Assembly.

About

The Northern Ireland Assembly has 90 elected members – five from each of 18 constituencies, the boundaries of which are the same as those used for electing members of the UK Parliament. Its role is primarily to scrutinise and make decisions on the issues dealt with by Government Departments and to consider and make legislation.^[1]

Responsibilities

MLAs are responsible for representing their constituents in the Northern Ireland Assembly, and may also hold a number of executive roles within the Northern Ireland Executive.

MLAs are also responsible for proposing, debating, and voting on law in policy areas devolved to the Assembly.

MLAs may also be present on committees relating to specific policy areas, intended to serve a scrutiny function, and to examine bills within that subject area as part of the process of the bill becoming a law.^[2]

Salary

The basic salary for an MLA is £55,000, while the Speaker, ministers and committee chairs receive an additional 'Office Holders Salary' on top of their basic salary.^[3]

History

Previous similar legislators

From 22 June 1921 until 30 March 1972 MPs of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland and Senators of the Senate of Northern Ireland in the Parliament of Northern Ireland legislated for Northern Ireland like MLAs do today.

Northern Ireland Assembly legislators

Following a referendum on the Belfast Agreement on 23 May 1998 and the granting of Royal Assent to the Northern Ireland Act 1998 on 19 November 1998; a Northern Ireland Assembly and Northern Ireland Executive were established by the Labour government of Prime Minister Tony Blair. The process was known as devolution and was set up to give Northern Ireland devolved legislative powers. MLAs are responsible for the Northern Ireland Assembly.

2017 Northern Ireland Assembly election

The Assembly Members (Reduction of Numbers) Act (Northern Ireland) 2016 resulted in the number of MLAs being reduced from 108 to 90. This change was first implemented in the snap Assembly election in March 2017.^[4]

Members of the Legislative Assembly

References

^ "Brief Summary". Northern Ireland Assembly. Archived from the original on 19 April 2008.
^ "Committees of the Northern Ireland Assembly". Northern Ireland Assembly. 29 November 2023. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
^ "Members' Salaries 2013-2014". Northern Ireland Assembly. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
^ "Voters to send 90 Members to Assembly after reduction in MLAs brought forward". Belfasttelegraph. 16 January 2017. Archived from the original on 25 October 2022.

External links

Northern Ireland Assembly

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[1] "Brief Summary". Northern Ireland Assembly. Archived from the original on 19 April 2008.

[2] "Committees of the Northern Ireland Assembly". Northern Ireland Assembly. 29 November 2023. Retrieved 4 February 2024.

[niassembly.gov.uk-3] "Members' Salaries 2013-2014". Northern Ireland Assembly. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 26 September 2021.

[4] "Voters to send 90 Members to Assembly after reduction in MLAs brought forward". Belfasttelegraph. 16 January 2017. Archived from the original on 25 October 2022.

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v t e Elected representatives in Northern Ireland
House of Commons of Northern Ireland 1922–1973	1st Parliament (1921–25) 2nd Parliament (1925–29) 3rd Parliament (1929–33) 4th Parliament (1933–38) 5th Parliament (1938–45) 6th Parliament (1945–49) 7th Parliament (1949–53) 8th Parliament (1953–58) 9th Parliament (1958–62) 10th Parliament (1962–65) 11th Parliament (1965–69) 12th Parliament (1969–73) By-elections Women
Senate of Northern Ireland 1922–1973	1st Parliament (1921–25) 2nd Parliament (1925–29) 3rd Parliament (1929–33) 4th Parliament (1933–38) 5th Parliament (1938–45) 6th Parliament (1945–49) 7th Parliament (1949–53) 8th Parliament (1953–58) 9th Parliament (1958–62) 10th Parliament (1962–65) 11th Parliament (1965–69) 12th Parliament (1969–73) Women
Assemblies etc pre-1998	1973 Assembly (1973–74) Constitutional Convention (1975–76) 1982 Assembly (1982–86) Forum (1996–98)
Northern Ireland Assembly since 1998	1st Assembly (1998–03) 2nd Assembly (2006–07) 3rd Assembly (2007–11) 4th Assembly (2011–16) 5th Assembly (2016–17) 6th Assembly (2017–22) 7th Assembly (2022–27)
House of Commons of the United Kingdom since 1922	1922–23‎ 1923–24‎ 1924–29‎ 1929–31‎ 1931–35‎ 1935–45‎ 1945–50‎ 1950–51‎ 1951–55‎ 1955–59‎ 1959–64‎ 1964–66‎ 1966–70‎ 1970–74‎ 1974‎ 1974–79‎ 1979–83‎ 1983–87‎ 1987–92‎ 1992–97‎ 1997–2001‎ 2001–05‎ 2005–10 2010–15 2015–17 2017–19 2019-24

v t e Northern Ireland Assembly
Assembly	Speaker Assembly Commission Acts Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) Parliament Buildings Commissioner for Standards at the Northern Ireland Assembly Clerk of the Northern Ireland Assembly
Committees	Executive Office Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Communities Economy Education Finance Health Infrastructure Justice
Constituencies	Belfast East Belfast North Belfast South Belfast West East Antrim East Londonderry Fermanagh and South Tyrone Foyle Lagan Valley Mid Ulster Newry and Armagh North Antrim North Down South Antrim South Down Strangford Upper Bann West Tyrone
Parties	Current: Alliance Democratic Unionist People Before Profit Sinn Féin Social Democratic and Labour Traditional Unionist Voice Ulster Unionist
Elections	1998 2003 2007 2011 2016 2017 2022 Next
Members	1st Assembly (1998–03) 2nd Assembly (2006–07) 3rd Assembly (2007–11) 4th Assembly (2011–16) 5th Assembly (2016–17) 6th Assembly (2017–22) 7th Assembly (2022)
Procedure	Cross-community vote
See also	Sunningdale Agreement Anglo-Irish Agreement Good Friday Agreement St Andrews Agreement Hillsborough Castle Agreement Stormont House Agreement New Decade, New Approach