The former television news presenter Mike Nesbitt is to become the leader of the Ulster Unionist party for the second time, succeeding Doug Beattie who quit last week. Nesbitt, 67, who led the UUP between 2012 and 2017, was the only declared candidate when nominations closed on Friday evening. He is expected to be formally ratified as leader at an extraordinary general meeting of the party on 14 September. He has indicated that he will continue as Northern Ireland’s health minister in the Stormont executive. Beattie, a decorated former British soldier, resigned over what he called “irreconcilable differences” with party officers. Nesbitt denied the party was split and told reporters that he was “more than happy to come back into the role”. “I didn’t know what I was letting myself in for in 2012. I do now and I am confident that I can do a job for the Ulster Unionist party, for the people who vote for us and more generally for the people of Northern Ireland,” he said. The UUP dominated Northern Ireland politics for decades but has been in decline for many years. It and the SDLP were the two main and moderate parties of unionism and nationalism at the time of the 1998 Good Friday agreement but they have since been overtaken by the Democratic Unionist party and Sinn Féin.
On Thursday the leader of the SDLP, Colum Eastwood, announced his resignation and endorsed the party’s other MP, Claire Hanna, as his preferred successor. Nesbitt, who represents Strangford in the Northern Ireland assembly, quit in 2017 after five years as leader following disappointing election results. He is regarded as more liberal than some of his colleagues. The UUP has in recent years found itself squeezed between the DUP and the moderate Alliance, which seeks to attract votes from both communities. A major task facing Nesbitt will be to carve out a distinct identity for the party that appeals to voters. In the past he said the UUP needed to shrink to grow, meaning it should move from being a broad church to becoming more liberal. As health minister Nesbitt suggested he was interested in listening to ideas to improve the region’s much-criticised health system. He has denied that continuing as a minister and leading the UUP is too much for one person. Nesbitt said: “I will be looking to senior colleagues to form a leadership team. And we will divide up all the responsibilities and all the actions, accordingly.” The former broadcaster was also a victims commissioner for those affected by the Troubles before entering politics and joining the UUP.