1971 Was among the founding members of the DUP
1973 Became an Executive member of the DUP
1974 Elected Secretary of the Central Executive Committee
1975 Appointed General Secretary of the DUP
1977 Elected as councillor for Castlereagh
1978 Served as deputy mayor of Castlereagh Borough Council
1979 First elected East Belfast MP at Westminster seat for the DUP
1980 Becomes deputy leader of the DUP
1986 Served as Mayor of Castlereagh Borough Council
1998 Elected as MLA for East Belfast
2007 Stepped down as Alderman of Castlereagh Borough Council, a position he had held since 1988
2008 Appointed leader of the DUP and First Minister of Northern Ireland 2010 Temporarily stepped aside following the revelation of his wife Iris's (above) affair with 19-year-old Kirk McCambley and allegations regarding financial affairs
2010 Lost the East Belfast seat to Naomi Long of the Alliance Party
May 2015 Suffered a heart attack
September 2015 Stepped aside from Stormont after a bid to suspend Assembly was rejected in the aftermath of the murder of republican Kevin McGuigan and the PSNI assessment that the killing was linked to the IRA. He was also hospitalised for a short time after an adverse reaction to heart medication
November 2015 Announced he is stepping down as First Minister and DUP leader after "stabilising" Stormont with the Fresh Start: The Stormont Agreement and Implementation deal