The next 12 months will likely see Stormont stagnate, but a potential tactical walkout and a splintering electoral landscape could reshape local politics as the Executive flounders
Michelle O’Neill, Gavin Robinson, Naomi Long, Jim Allister, Gerry Carroll, Claire Hanna, Mal O’Hara and whoever the new UUP leader will
be are already looking ahead to the next Assembly election in 2027
We’ll see incessant political posturing as parties strut about hoping to catch the eye of the electorate. But there’s no evidence that the Stormont Executive will manage what Michelle O’Neill and Emma Little-Pengelly said they should be judged on: delivery.
Here’s some of the challenges and the opportunities facing each of Northern Ireland’s political leaders in 2026.