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Douglas Ricardo Beattie (born 13 October 1965) is a Northern Irish politician and former member of the
British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...
, who has been leader 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 mo ...
(UUP) since 27 May 2021. He has been a
Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs; ga, Comhaltaí den Tionól Reachtach; sco-ulster, Laa-Makkan Forgaitherars) are representatives elected by the voters to the Northern Ireland Assembly. About The Northern Ireland Assembly has 90 ...
(MLA) for Upper Bann since 2016. He is characterised as a 'progressive' and 'liberal' unionist.


Early life

Beattie was born in 1965 in a military base in
Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
; his father was a
warrant officer Warrant officer (WO) is a rank or category of ranks in the armed forces of many countries. Depending on the country, service, or historical context, warrant officers are sometimes classified as the most junior of the commissioned ranks, the mos ...
in the
Royal Ulster Rifles The Royal Irish Rifles (became the Royal Ulster Rifles from 1 January 1921) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army, first created in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 83rd (County of Dublin) Regiment of Foot and the 86th (Royal Count ...
, a regiment of the
British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...
. The family returned to
Portadown Portadown () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town sits on the River Bann in the north of the county, about southwest of Belfast. It is in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council area and had a population of ...
,
County Armagh County Armagh (, named after its county town, Armagh) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the southern shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and ha ...
,
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...
, when he was 10 following the ending of his father's regular service. The family moved into a house in Union Street, in the densely-populated Edgarstown area on the outskirts of the town centre. Beattie's mother died young, leaving his father (who had by this time enlisted with the
Ulster Defence Regiment The Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) was an infantry regiment of the British Army established in 1970, with a comparatively short existence ending in 1992. Raised through public appeal, newspaper and television advertisements,Potter p25 their offi ...
) to raise him, his three sisters and two brothers. At the age of 15 he accidentally shot a friend when the two of them found Beattie Snr's personal protection weapon and were playing with it. Although shot in the head, his friend recovered.


Military career

At the age of 16, in 1982, Beattie joined the
Royal Irish Rangers The Royal Irish Rangers (27th (Inniskilling), 83rd and 87th) was a regular infantry regiment of the British Army with a relatively short existence, formed in 1968 and later merged with the Ulster Defence Regiment in 1992 to form the Royal Iri ...
and following training was posted to the 2nd Battalion who were stationed in Wavell Barracks, Berlin. In over 28 years of service, he rose to the rank of Warrant Officer First Class (WO1) and was appointed
regimental sergeant major Regimental sergeant major (RSM) is an appointment that may be held by warrant officers class 1 (WO1) in the British Army, the British Royal Marines and in the armies of many other Commonwealth and former Commonwealth nations, including Australia ...
. During that time he served in Bosnia,
Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a international recognition of Kosovo, partiall ...
,
Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
and Northern Ireland, being awarded the General Officer NI commendation, the
Queen's Commendation for Bravery The King's Commendation for Bravery and the King's Commendation for Bravery in the Air are United Kingdom awards,NATO Meritorious Service Medal. He was commissioned from the ranks in 2005, gaining promotion to
captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
. During the
Afghanistan War War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC) * Muslim conquests of Afghanistan (637–709) *Conquest of Afghanistan by the Mongol Empire (13th century), see al ...
, as part of the
Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team Operational Mentoring and Liaison Teams (OMLTs) were the NATO equivalent of the United States' Embedded Training Teams and were active in Afghanistan. Countries Teams from several countries provided training and operational support to the Af ...
, Captain Beattie was part of an operation to retake the town of Garmsir in
Helmand Province Helmand (Pashto/Dari: ; ), also known as Hillmand, in ancient times, as Hermand and Hethumand, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, in the south of the country. It is the largest province by area, covering area. The province contains 13 ...
. As a result of his actions during the intense fighting over several days, he was recommended for, and subsequently awarded, the
Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...
. Following his return from Afghanistan, Beattie published the first of two books, ''An Ordinary Soldier'', which became an immediate best seller in the United Kingdom and propelled him into the public eye. Beattie's follow-up book was ''Task Force Helmand''.


Political career

After retiring from the army, Beattie joined 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 mo ...
and was elected to
Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon District Council Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council is a local authority that was established on 1 April 2015. It replaced Armagh City and District Council, Banbridge District Council and Craigavon Borough Council. The first elections to th ...
for the Portadown area in the 2014 local elections. In May 2016, he was elected as an MLA for the Upper Bann constituency. Before the 2017 Ulster Unionist Party leadership election, Beattie was named by commentators as a possible contender to replace former leader Mike Nesbitt; however, in the end only
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.
ran, and was elected unopposed. In October 2019, after Swann announced he was standing down as leader of the party, Beattie ruled himself out of contention as the next leader and endorsed former Royal Navy commander
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 ...
and served as Deputy instead. Beattie stood as a candidate for Member of Parliament for Upper Bann in the 2019 General Election. He came fourth, losing to Carla Lockhart of the
Democratic Unionist Party The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a unionist, loyalist, and national conservative political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1971 during the Troubles by Ian Paisley, who led the party for the next 37 years. Currently led by ...
(DUP). In May and September 2020 Beattie was threatened by the South East Antrim UDA after he condemned threats they had made against journalists. Beattie announced in May 2021 that he was putting his name forward to be the next leader of the UUP. He said that he would be "able to reach out to all people in Northern Ireland regardless of what your religion is, sexual orientation or ethnicity". Beattie was elected unopposed on 17 May 2021, and officially became leader on 27 May 2021. In January 2022, Beattie apologised after posting a joke on Twitter about the wife of DUP politician
Edwin Poots Edwin Poots (born 27 April 1965) is a British politician in Northern Ireland who served as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) from May to June 2021. He was first elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) in 1998, and wa ...
. In the aftermath, several of Beattie's historic tweets re-emerged, containing content that was perceived as "casually misogynistic", and including derogatory comments about women and members of the
Irish Traveller Irish Travellers ( ga, an lucht siúil, meaning "the walking people"), also known as Pavees or Mincéirs (Shelta: Mincéirí), are a traditionally peripatetic indigenous ethno-cultural group in Ireland.''Questioning Gypsy identity: ethnic n ...
community. The tweets were posted between 2011 and 2014, while Beattie was still a serving soldier and before he entered politics. Beattie said that he was "deeply ashamed" of the tweets. Beattie attended protests against the
Northern Ireland Protocol The Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland, commonly abbreviated to the Northern Ireland Protocol, is a protocol to the Brexit withdrawal agreement that governs the unique customs and immigration issues at the border on the island of Ireland bet ...
, the post-
Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or ...
trade arrangements. In March 2022, he announced he would continue to oppose the Protocol but would no longer take part in the series of rallies. Beattie said they had been hijacked by
loyalists Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cr ...
to raise tensions "that now see a resurgence in UVF activity". Following this, his constituency office in Portadown was attacked, and a poster of a noose around his neck appeared at a loyalist rally in
Lurgan Lurgan () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, near the southern shore of Lough Neagh. Lurgan is about south-west of Belfast and is linked to the city by both the M1 motorway and the Belfast–Dublin railway line. It had a population ...
.


Views

Beattie has been characterized as a 'progressive' and 'liberal' within the UUP, but said upon his election as leader that those with conservative values had "nothing to fear" from him and that he would "tread a path to make sure that your voice is heard and I will never denigrate your opinion". He proposed a motion in Stormont calling for a ban on
gay conversion therapy Conversion therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of attempting to change an individual's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to align with heterosexual and cisgender norms. In contrast to evidence-based medicine and clin ...
, which passed, and argued it is "fundamentally wrong to view our LGBTQ community as requiring a fix or cure"."Doug Beattie: Who is the new leader of the UUP?"
BBC News, 17 May 2021.
Beattie is against the
Northern Ireland Protocol The Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland, commonly abbreviated to the Northern Ireland Protocol, is a protocol to the Brexit withdrawal agreement that governs the unique customs and immigration issues at the border on the island of Ireland bet ...
, the post-
Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or ...
trade arrangements, believing it is damaging to the
Good Friday Agreement The Good Friday Agreement (GFA), or Belfast Agreement ( ga, Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta or ; Ulster-Scots: or ), is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April 1998 that ended most of the violence of The Troubles, a political conflict in N ...
. He said "I do not want a hardened border on the island of Ireland, but neither do I want a border in the Irish Sea". A former soldier, Beattie has pressed for Northern Ireland to adopt the Armed Forces Covenant and ensure support for military veterans and their families. He also argues that soldiers who served during the Troubles should not be immune from prosecution, saying "Soldiers were here to stand between the terrorists and the terrorised. If they went outside the law then they have to face the law"."Troubles soldiers need legal protection says Sir Jeffrey Donaldson"
BBC News, 22 April 2021.


References


External links


Northern Ireland Assembly profileUlster Unionist Party profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beattie, Doug 1965 births Living people Royal Irish Regiment (1992) officers British Army personnel of the Iraq War Ulster Unionist Party MLAs British military personnel of The Troubles (Northern Ireland) Northern Ireland MLAs 2016–2017 Northern Ireland MLAs 2017–2022 Councillors in County Antrim Councillors in County Armagh Councillors in County Down People from Portadown Recipients of the Military Cross Recipients of the NATO Meritorious Service Medal Recipients of the Queen's Commendation for Bravery Northern Ireland MLAs 2022–2027