EDWIN Poots yesterday rose to become the next leader of the DUP, a party his father helped co-found alongside Ian Paisley.
From Lisburn, he studied at Greenmount Agricultural College before being elected to Lisburn council.
His next move was to the Stormont Assembly when he became the Lagan Valley MLA in 1998 and since then has held a number of ministerial roles.
It was in 2007 that the father-of-four was appointed as culture and arts minister in the Executive.
A Free Presbyterian, he rejects the theory of evolution, and stated while culture minister that he believed the earth is only several thousand years old.
One of the DUP's most experienced politicians, he was appointed environment minister in 2009 and took over the health portfolio in 2011 - a role in which he often made headlines.
He faced criticism when he maintained a ban on gay men in Northern Ireland donating blood, despite the ban having been lifted in the rest of the UK.
He later fought a ruling that would bring laws around LGBT adoption in the north into line with other parts of the UK. Mr Poots also criticised Westminster liberalising Northern Ireland's abortion laws as "an act of destruction" on devolution.
In January 2020, he became agriculture minister with responsibility for implementing the checks required under the Northern Ireland Protocol.
In February, he faced criticism for withdrawing staff carrying out Brexit checks at Larne port, citing fears for their safety.
He faced health concerns earlier this year when he underwent treatment for kidney cancer and briefly stepped aside from his ministerial portfolio.
But now 40 years after his late father involvement with the DUP, he takes on his biggest political challenge to date.
