A senior Ulster Unionist politician has told party leaders he will not seek re-election to the Stormont Assembly, it was announced today.
Dermot Nesbitt (59) the South Down Assembly member, told party leader Sir Reg Empey that he wants a change of course and to do other things so he will not stand at the election scheduled for next March.
"It has been a privilege to be involved in politics for 40 years. But you reach a position when it is time to stand aside," he said. "I just think it is time to stand aside and let others progress."
Mr Nesbitt has been one of the strongest defenders of the Belfast Agreement he helped negotiate. When devolution followed, he became a junior minister in the power-sharing Executive led by David Trimble and was later promoted to environment minister.
Mr Nesbitt's involvement in the Northern Ireland political scene goes back to the 1970s. He was election agent for Brian Faulkner between 1973 and 1977.
He is the second minister in the last Executive to announce his retirement from politics in a matter of weeks.
The SDLP's Sean Farren, who served as finance minister in the previoous Executive, recently announced he was retiring from politics.