I am not a lame duck leader, says Nesbitt as he mulls political future

Mike Nesbitt has said he is “not a lame duck leader” after stating he will decide whether to stand in the next election by next year.

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

The next Northern Ireland Assembly elections are scheduled for May 2027, by which time Mr Nesbitt would be 70.

“It is my intention to make that decision in January of 2026, and that timing is important because should I decide not to go again, that leaves time for a campaign for a leader to be elected at the next AGM, which will be March 2026, and that gives that next leader 14 months before the election,” he told the BBC’s Sunday Politics programme.

“I assure you I am not a lame duck leader, and there is no talk within the party that I’m aware of about who’s going to be next.”

He said if he decides to stand aside, he will want to stay on as health minister, saying it is a “strain” to do the two roles and he has “successfully delegated” party leadership duties to senior colleagues.

When it was put to him that no-one wants the leadership job, Mr Nesbitt said “I don’t think that’s true.”

When highlighted there had been a lack of interest in the role previously, he added: “But I think this time, there is prospects of people – plural – stepping forward.”

He also ruled out being leader of the UUP for the third time, stating: “I am not going to live forever.”

He said unionism would benefit from having two parties, a traditional and a progressive party, and he wants the Ulster Unionist Party to be the latter.

Mr Nesbitt was also asked about comments he made at the UUP party conference on Saturday in which he warned against unionists supporting right-wing parties and that English nationalism was a greater threat to Northern Ireland’s place in the UK over Irish nationalism.

“It’s based on my own anecdotal evidence of going over to Westminster and seeing people like Nigel Farage, Lee Anderson and Douglas Carswell,” he said.

“Carswell, when I was there one day, was attacking Scotland for its block grant, so there is this shift in attitude.

“The days of Northern Ireland exceptionalism, based on the Troubles, are long gone. Treasury are taking a very, very hard line on Northern Ireland and our finances.

“It’s a long time since that kind of bond in terms of what Northern Irish people did and the two world wars, their contribution to protecting the United Kingdom, I don’t see that being strong anymore.”

Asked about a border poll, he added: “I see no evidence that a border poll would result in constitutional change.”

Asked about Heather Humphreys as a possible future Irish president, Mr Nesbitt said: “I think of the two candidates, she is the lesser threat to the union because she is an Ulster woman of Presbyterian stock.

Asked if he was worried about Catherine Connolly presidency, he added: “I wouldn’t be particularly worried about it, but she reflects a style of politics and an ideology that I don’t support.”