In the event of the Ulster Unionist Party's ruling executive backing Mike Nesbitt on Saturday then the party's sole Stormont minister will be expected to resign early next week.
As Monday is a bank holiday, Danny Kennedy will likely quit his regional development portfolio on Tuesday by writing to the assembly speaker.
The process of filling the vacant post is set out in Section 18 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 – specifically Sub-section 10 – and Standing Order 44.
In summary, if the UUP decline to nominate a replacement for Mr Kennedy within seven days from his resignation, then under D'Hondt nomination falls to the next relevant party, which in this case is the DUP.
If the DUP choose not to nominate then it will fall to Sinn Féin to nominate, and so on through the other executive parties.
