Nigel Dodds (40), a former assistant to his party leader in Brussels, was once described as "the man who carries the Rev Ian Paisley's bag in Europe", an under-estimation of his role.
With a first-class law degree from Cambridge, he returned to the North in the early 1980s and was called to the Bar.
His father Joe, a customs' officer, is a DUP councillor in Enniskillen. In 1985 Nigel was elected to Belfast City Council. Three years later, aged 29, he became the youngest Lord Mayor of Belfast.
Mr Dodds escaped injury when the IRA tried to kill him as he visited his son in hospital three years ago.
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Dr Paisley will not run for Europe in 2004 and that seat is a possibility for Mr Dodds.