UUP conference: Nesbitt to be confirmed as new party leader

Mike Nesbitt is set to be ratified as the new leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) when members gather for their annual conference on Saturday.

He will appear by livestream as he is recovering from Covid-19.

It is Nesbitt’s second time as leader – he served between 2012 and 2017, when he quit after disappointing assembly election results.

He will be the first person to have twice held the top job in the UUP.

This time he replaces Doug Beattie, who stood down as leader last month, citing “irreconcilable differences” with party officers.

Nesbitt is also the party’s health minister in the executive at Stormont, a job he will continue to do.

On Saturday, party delegates will meet to ratify Nesbitt as leader, before he makes his first major address later that afternoon.

When Beattie unexpectedly resigned as leader in August, Nesbitt was the only candidate to declare an interest when nominations for the leadership opened.

He has previously said he wants to see the UUP continuing with “progressive and inclusive outreach”.

The former broadcaster took over at the helm of the UUP in March 2012 when Tom Elliott stood down after just 18 months in the job.

Nesbitt is well known for his long and high-profile career as a television news presenter.

Born in 1957 in Belfast, he attended Campbell College and ran 400 metre hurdles for an Irish Schools athletics team.

He became a sports presenter at the BBC, and he also anchored the flagship Good Morning Ulster radio programme.

At UTV, he presented its evening news programme for 10 years and, during that time, co-presented with his wife Lynda Bryans.

In 2008, he was appointed Victims’ Commissioner, a role designed to promote the interests of victims of the Troubles.

However, he left the commission when he joined the Ulster Unionists in 2010.

He ran as a candidate for the Ulster Conservatives and Unionists – New Force in the 2010 Westminster elections, but was defeated by DUP candidate Jim Shannon.

Nesbitt was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2011 as a representative for Strangford.

As the saying goes, if at first you don’t succeed, try again.

Mike Nesbitt has returned for a second shot at improving the UUP’s fortunes, but what will he do differently this time?

The party’s prospects are worse than when he first quit seven years ago, and he also plans to double job as a minister and party leader.

He isn’t the only member of the executive doing so, but he arguably has a harder task—putting his party back on track after the row that saw Doug Beattie stand down, alongside fixing the health service.

As of this afternoon, Mike Nesbitt could have the two toughest jobs in Northern Ireland politics.

You can watch Mike Nesbitt’s speech at the UUP conference and follow live coverage on the BBC News NI website from 14:00 BST.