Nesbitt to decide on political future by January next year

Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt has said he will make a decision over whether to stand at the next Assembly elections by early next year.

Mr Nesbitt, who also serves as Northern Ireland’s health minister, said he would need to leave time for a new party leader to come in ahead of the election, if he decided not to run again.

The next Northern Ireland Assembly elections are scheduled for May 2027.

Mr Nesbitt would be 70 by the time of those elections.

He told the media on Monday that he would make a decision on whether to run again by January 2026 at the latest.

He said: “Eighteen months ago I was on the back benches and, as I put it, cruising towards retirement, not expecting to become the minister of health, not expecting to become again the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party.

“That has thrown a couple of spanners in the works.

“If I am not going to stand, in fairness to the party, I think I have to make a decision early in 2026, given there are elections in May 2027.”

He added: “That is something I will look at in terms of what happens between now and Christmas, but I do think early 2026 is the latest I can leave it in fairness to whoever might be coming in if the decision is to stick to where I was 18 months ago.”

The Strangford MLA became UUP leader in August of last year for a second time after previous leader Doug Beattie quit following a dispute with party officers.

Mr Nesbitt, a former broadcast journalist, had previously been party leader between between 2012 and 2017 but quit following a difficult Assembly election result.

He is the first person to lead the party twice.

Mr Nesbitt replaced party colleague Robin Swann as health minister in May of last year.