The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), once dominant in Northern Irish politics, is now seeking its eighth leader in less than 20 years, following the resignation of Doug Beattie after just three years in the post.
In a sharp, even bitter resignation letter, Beattie said he was quitting in the face of “irreconcilable differences” between him and senior party officers over the direction of the party.
His decision, a surprise in its timing, but that only, leaves the party now trying to find a new leader ahead of its party conference next month, and with a major, if not impossible task to restore the party’s fortunes.
Considerably more liberal in his views than the party’s officers, Mr Beattie took the post in 2021 having refused it previously, and only after he had clearly indicated the direction he wanted to take the party to challenge the Democratic Unionist Party.
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However, it has been an unhappy political marriage almost from the off, with Mr Beattie saying that his differences with party officers “combined with the inability to influence and shape the party going forward” meant that he could no longer stay on.
In the Westminster elections, the UUP’s Robert Swann, who was then Stormont’s Health Minister, comfortably won a House of Commons seat in South Antrim, which the party had lost in 2017.
In all, the UUP won nearly 95,000 votes across Northern Ireland – one in eight of those cast, a half-point percentage rise on its last outing in 2019, which Mr Beattie described as “small successes” on the back of previous difficult results.
The last straw for the former British Army soldier and holder of the Military Cross came after his bid to have Robert Swann replaced in the Stormont Assembly as the MLA for North Antrim by Ballymoney councillor Darryl Wilson was rejected.
Though still young, Wilson is a liberal unionist but already an experienced councillor. However, the party executive chose Colin Crawford, who is a less experienced councillor, but more traditional in his views.
Beattie had taken a major gamble in letting Robert Swann run in the Westminster elections and in replacing him as Health Minister ahead of that vote – a move that met considerable resistance and worry within the organisation.
Equally, Mr Beattie had favoured taking the UUP into opposition in Stormont, rather than taking up its one available place on the Northern Executive, but, again, he was over-ruled by party officers. He believed the UUP could better define itself against the DUP outside of the Executive.
However, the conservative rearguard quickly reformed when it came to Swann’s replacement in Stormont deciding in favour of Crawford, despite Beattie’s “apoplectic” rage.
Robin Butler MLA is deemed the likely favourite to replace him, possibly even the only candidate.
Beattie is understood to have tendered his resignation six weeks ago in the wake of losing on the Crawford/Wilson choice, though he is then understood to have sought to withdraw it, though the party officers refused to allow him to do so.
Now, it appears that Mr Beattie enjoyed the support of just two of the ten party officers and it is believed that the majority were ready to seek his ousting in coming weeks – a move which led Beattie to activate his resignation decision on Monday morning, to the surprise of many in the organisation.
Paying tribute to Mr Beattie, the SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said they have “different politics but I’ve always admired his candour and commitment to working together in the interests of the people we represent”.
President Michael D. Higgins offered his best wishes to Mr Beattie, saying that he had appreciated his “open and courageous” attitude to the challenges facing reconciliation in Northern Ireland.
First Minister, Sinn Féin’s Michelle O’Neill wished him well, saying she had “worked constructively” with him, adding that she would do the same with the new leader of the party when that person is elected.
Former minister for foreign affairs, Fine Gael’s Simon Coveney said he was sorry to see Beattie “stepping back” from leadership, saying he had found the former soldier to “be fair, tough when needed, reasonable and positive”.
