(1944–)
a British politician who has been the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party since 1995. In 1998 he became First Minister of the new Northern Ireland Assembly , and later in the same year he received the Nobel Peace Prize with John Hume . In July 2001 he resigned as First Minister because he believed the IRA had not done enough to decommission (= officially stop using) their weapons. He was re-elected as First Minister in November and kept this position until October 2002 when the Northern Ireland Assembly stopped operating.