It was nearly two years ago that Doug Beattie resigned as UUP leader after losing an internal debate over who would fill the Assembly seat vacated when Robin Swann was elected to Westminster in the 2024 General Election. Since then, various snippets of news have indicated all was not well in relations between Beattie and his UUP colleagues.
A few weeks ago, there were rumours that he was poised to be deselected by his constituency association in favour of local councillor Kyle Savage and that story was followed by reports of greater turmoil within the local UUP. Recently one of the staff members in the constituency office, Norman Wilkinson, resigned with the story in the Belfast Telegraph quoting sources who said Beattie had rowed with Wilkinson following the publication of a social media post featuring Councillor Savage.
Furthermore, one of Beattie’s own allies has also resigned from the party, with Kate Evans now opting to sit as an independent councillor and citing ‘internal party politics’ as part of the rationale for the decision.
Whilst the local constituency association ultimately opted to run two candidates in the upcoming Assembly election, it seemed increasingly inevitable that Beattie would part ways with the UUP before too long and yesterday it came to pass as the former leader announced his resignation from the party.
He posted his resignation letter on X, addressed to party leader Jon Burrows
It has become clear that my continued membership of the Ulster Unionist Party is no longer tenable. Therefore it is with genuine sadness and regret that I submit my resignation from the Ulster Unionist Party with immediate effect.
Beattie’s anger at Burrows is palpable as the letter continues
…over the past two years I have witnessed a marked deterioration in the relationships between the Party Management Board, constituency associations, the Ulster Unionist Councillor Association, and the MLA group at Stormont.
This became particularly apparent and accelerated following your election as party leader, when MLAs were increasingly marginalised, ignored, isolated and discredited. Your leadership style became dismissive and overly centralised, empowering individuals to actively undermine elected representatives. In the absence of any coherent policy direction from the leadership, a toxic atmosphere has been allowed to flourish within the party.
“The Ulster Unionist Party once prided itself on its social conscience, its progressive and moderate outlook, and its respected conservative tradition. I no longer believe that is the case and I no longer feel at home or comfortable within the party.”
Beattie plans to serve out the rest of his term as an Indepedent Unionist MLA but whether he plans to stand for re-election next year is yet to be determined.
According to the BBC, the UUP has issued a response
In a statement, a UUP spokesperson said they had received the resignation today and thanked Beattie “for his many years of service to his country and to the party”.
“We wish him well,” it continued. However, the spokesperson said that “the party does not accept the characterisation of recent events set out in Mr Beattie’s letter. “The party management board met on Thursday evening to consider serious concerns about Mr Beattie’s conduct and judgement. “The board unanimously agreed a course of action, which was due to be communicated to Mr Beattie by the party leader on Monday.
“Mr Beattie’s resignation has overtaken that process.”
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