Ian Richard Kyle Paisley (born 6 April 1926), styled The Revd. and Rt. Hon. Ian Paisley and also known as Dr Ian Paisley, is the First Minister of Northern Ireland. Paisley is a veteran politician and church leader in Northern Ireland. As the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), the largest single grouping in the 2007 elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly, he was elected First Minister on 8 May 2007.

In addition to his leadership of the DUP, he is a founding member and immediate past Moderator of the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster. Paisley has been Member of Parliament for the constituency of North Antrim since 1970, and is a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for the same constituency.

In 2005, Paisley's political party became the largest Unionist party in Northern Ireland, displacing his long-term rivals, the Ulster Unionists (UUP), who had dominated Unionist politics in Northern Ireland since the partition of Ireland. Paisley is also an author, lecturer and speaker.

On March 4, 2008 he announced that he will step down as First Minister and leader of the DUP in May 2008.