MIKE NESBITT WILL be the new leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) after he was the only declared candidate when nominations closed this afternoon at 4.40pm.

Nesbitt, 67, is currently Northern Ireland’s health minister and will be formally ratified as leader at an extraordinary general meeting of the party on 14 September.

Doug Beattie quit as UUP leader last week after citing “irreconcilable differences” between him and party officers.

The internal row centred over the process to select the Stormont Assembly replacement for the party’s new MP Robin Swann and ultimately led to Beattie’s resignation.

File image of former UUP leader Doug Beattie Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Nesbitt was formerly a broadcaster at the BBC and UTV and first ran for office unsuccessfully in UK general election of 2010.

He was elected as am MLA for Strangford in 2011 and became UUP leader a year later.

He stepped down as party leader in 2017 following a difficult Northern Ireland Assembly election result.

Nesbitt is the North’s health minister and speaking to reporters shortly after nominations closed, he noted that he has added another “challenging role” to his portfolio.

Nesbitt also paid tribute to Beattie and said he was “the first on the list of the people I wanted to attract into the party” when he first became party leader in 2012.

Meanwhile, Nesbitt said Beattie’s departure “gave rise to the narrative that this is a badly split party” and that the party “fed the narrative by washing out dirty linen in public”.

“I am suggesting we all take a beat and relax a little bit over the weekend and then we will pick things up at the beginning of next week as the Stormont Assembly begins to return,” said Nesbitt.

He received the required 35 signatures from nine constituencies across Northern Ireland.

When asked if Beattie was among these signatures, Nesbitt said he was “not going to discuss Doug”.

“There is a long-standing tradition in our party that an outgoing leader does not try and influence the decision of the party as to who should be the successor,” said Nesbitt.

Asked how he will balance his role as health minister with his role as UUP leader, Nesbitt said there is “very little that you can or should delegate to others” as health minister but there are “many, many, many things that a party leader can delegate to others and that’s the way it will be”.

“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,” said Nesbitt.

He added that he is still “very energised about being health minister”.

Nesbitt further remarked that he wants the UUP to be a unionist party that is a “bit more relaxed, confident, that is outreaching and embracing and more inclusive”.

“I would like a party which isn’t just saying, ‘vote for us because of identity’, let’s also talk about policy and what we want to do for people,” added Nesbitt.

“If you’re a unionist and you want to secure the union, that’s the way to do it. If you’re delivering that for people, who is going to say ‘I would rather vote for change and the uncertainty associated with that’.

“They’re going to say, ‘tell you what, give me more of the same’.”