An election for the leadership of the
Ulster Unionist Party
The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it led unionist opposition to the Irish Home Rule movem ...
(UUP) was held on 9 November 2019 at the party's Annual General Meeting. The election followed the resignation of incumbent leader
Robin Swann
Robin Swann (born 24 September 1971) is a politician from Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland's
Minister of Health from Jan 2020 to Oct 2022, he was the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party from 2017 to 2019. on 30 September 2019 after the party lost 13 councillors in the
local government elections in May and
failed to retain its representation in the European Parliament. The result was that
South Antrim MLA Steve Aiken
Stephen Ronald Aiken (born 16 June 1962) is a Northern Irish politician, who served as Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) from 2019 to 2021, and was Chief Whip of the UUP from 2017 to 2019.
Aiken has been a Member of the Northern Irela ...
was elected unopposed.
Doug Beattie
Douglas Ricardo Beattie (born 13 October 1965) is a Northern Irish politician and former member of the British Army, who has been leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) since 27 May 2021. He has been a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembl ...
, MLA for
Upper Bann and a retired
Army Captain
The army rank of captain (from the French ) is a commissioned officer rank historically corresponding to the command of a company of soldiers. The rank is also used by some air forces and marine forces. Today, a captain is typically either t ...
, was speculated as a potential candidate for the leadership. Beattie had said he would "take soundings" with regard to the leadership position. However, on 14 October 2019, the Upper Bann MLA said a contested leadership election would be a distraction. He endorsed Steve Aiken, a former
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
commander who was elected MLA for South Antrim in
2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
. Both Aiken and Beattie were seen as "being largely on the
liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
side of the party."
On 23 October 2019, the party confirmed that Aiken was the only nomination received by officials. He was confirmed as leader on 9 November at the party's Annual General Meeting.
References
2019 elections in the United Kingdom
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
2019 in British politics
2019 elections in Northern Ireland
Ulster Unionist Party leadership election
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