Beattie Resigns Amid UUP Leadership Challenges

The leader of the Ulster Unionist Party has resigned after being overwhelmed by differences between him and his party officers. He is reported to have stated that the reason for his resignation is the differences between him and the party officers. Beattie has led the party since May last year and resigned in the middle of the prevalent turmoil within the party. This turmoil was occasioned by disputes concerning the appointment of various political figures within the Stormont and Westminster.

During Beattie’s reign, the UUP encountered mixed election results. The one remarkable success was the victory in the appointment of a Westminster representative in the last July general election. The UUP managed to elect a representative to UKs parliament, which was its first time since 2015. Beattie described leadership during his reign as difficult citing, “running a political party such as the UUP is difficult and being the leader is even harder”. He acknowledged a significant degree of loneliness and isolation as part of the demands of his role. Beattie decided to resign despite the support of the many parties arguing they appear to agree with him only to disagree behind his back.

The resignation of the UUP leader marks another significant chapter in the need to fill the leadership vacuum in the UUP. There have been three leaders since the resignation of Mike Nesbitt after failure in the 2017 assembly election. The announcement of his resignation was made at the party council meeting. This decision came into force after Colin Crawford was elected as the party’s North Antrim MLA. Mr. Crawford replaces Robin Swann who was elected as the MP for the South Antrim. United Unionist is challenged to make a critical decision to fill the leadership void in a bid to clarify the party’s future. This internal leadership contest would play a critical role in resolving the disputes that led to the resignation of the UUP leader.