When First Minister and Democratic Unionist Party leader Peter Robinson announced his intention to retire from politics last November, rumours that a nomination for both positions from Deputy Leader Nigel Dodds was certain went unsuppressed and discouraged those on the party’s more traditional wing from triggering a contest.

Late on, Dodds ruled himself and Finance Minister Arlene Foster put herself forward as the sole nominee.

Hardly a street politician like her predecessors Robinson and Ian Paisley, an ex-Ulster Unionist and now the first non-Presbyterian to lead the party, Foster cannot be described as a DUP traditionalist.

With Foster set to become First Minister of Northern Ireland this week, it will be interesting to see whether a new DUP brand will emerge during her tenure. Whatever direction she chooses to take the party, challenges and opportunities lie ahead.

In 2011 the DUP arguably over-performed, winning 38 seats in all. No matter who would be leading the party into May’s Assembly elections, they would face pressure to repeat or better this result.

The task now looks more difficult given the growing confidence of a seemingly resurgent UUP.

Whereas a united showing by unionism won big in last year’s Westminster elections, the Assembly campaign looks set to be dominated by inter-unionist feuding.

Some pundits are predicting that the DUP could even lose seats this time around. Determining whether this actually happens, though, may be the parties’ respective attempts at vote management across constituencies.

Whatever comes to pass, with Foster the party will have a calm head in charge. Twice before, she temporarily took on the First Minister’s role at times of crisis.

Whatever happens, one imagines that she will still look ahead to the next election when she will have led the party throughout an entire Assembly term. In some ways, arguably, given Robinson’s late leaving date she is still standing in.

Her ascendancy brings a decisive close to the fire-brand style of leadership which the DUP has been used to.

As political commentator Alex Kane noted this week in the News Letter, even when she and others left David Trimble’s UUP for the DUP in 2003/04 it was not because she and they were anti-Good Friday Agreement or anti-Assembly. Rather, Trimble wasn’t playing a tough enough game with Sinn Féin.

Foster recognises that Sinn Féin’s status within the NI Executive is not likely to change; high in her priorities will be to compete for unionist dominance whilst seeking better ties with her republican partners in government.

Comments she made to the Belfast Telegraph this week, that she won’t have anything to do with this year’s centenary commemorations of the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin may have caused some dismay but, really, should not have come as a surprise.

Sinn Féin has said DUP involvement would demonstrate ‘political maturity’, yet even they waited until after Queen Elizabeth II’s first state visit to the Republic of Ireland to attend meet and greets. Such things can be easier said than done.

To the role of First Minister, Foster brings a reputation for getting things done in government, but embedding her own style of leadership, her vision for the party and even new approaches to sensitive events and commemorations may take time.