Several DUP representatives have been speculated as possible successors to Arlene Foster as party leader.
While the end of her tenure has been long predicted, no obvious replacement has ever emerged.
It is expected potential challengers for the party leadership will take some time to declare their hand.
There is also the added complication of the First Minister's role, which can only be occupied by members of the Stormont Assembly.
It could be the case that the party attempts to split the First Minister and DUP leader roles.
However, a number of names have been tipped as the possible future leader of the DUP.
Gavin Robinson
The MP for East Belfast since 2015 and a former Belfast lord mayor.
At the age of 36, he would be by far the youngest person to become leader of the party.
Mr Robinson, a former Stormont special adviser to ex-First Minister Peter Robinson (no relation), is also the party's defence spokesperson.
He is well-regarded within the party and would be considered as someone who could potentially attract younger and more liberal voters beyond the DUP's traditional unionist base.
Edwin Poots
Stormont's Agriculture Minister and an MLA for the Lagan Valley constituency.
A former Health Minister, the 55-year-old briefly stepped aside from his Agriculture post earlier this year while recovering from cancer surgery.
Mr Poots, a Free Presbyterian, would be regarded as part of the Paisleyite section of the DUP.
He would be expected to appeal to the religious fundamentalist elements within the party.
Jeffrey Donaldson
The Member of Parliament for the Lagan Valley constituency is Northern Ireland's longest-serving current MP.
He has also been DUP group leader in the House of Commons since Nigel Dodds lost his North Belfast seat in 2019's Westminster election.
Like Mrs Foster, Mr Donaldson is a former Ulster Unionist who defected to the DUP in 2004.
The 58-year-old has long been considered a potential contender for becoming DUP leader.
However in December 2019 he ruled himself out of a leadership challenge when rumours circulated after the DUP lost two seats in the Westminster election.
Nigel Dodds
The House of Lords peer is currently DUP deputy leader.
The 62-year-old lost his seat as MP for North Belfast to Sinn Féin's John Finucane in the snap Westminster election of December 2019.
Mr Dodds, who is married to Economy Minister Diane Dodds, is considered one of the DUP's chief Brexiteers, having been a director of the Vote Leave campaign in the EU referendum.
His candidacy and potential success seems the least likely of the contenders, given his electoral defeat in what was seen a response to the DUP's handling of Brexit.
In addition, a letter sent from DUP councillors to the party chairman, Lord Maurice Morrow, has called for both Mrs Foster and Mr Dodds to resign for their "ineffective leadership".
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