Editorial: Big challenges ahead for Ulster Unionist Party in coming year amid internal divisions

​Trouble in the Ulster Unionist Party last summer overshadowed what was a good outcome at the Westminster general election, with Robin Swann returning the party to the green benches.

The manner of Doug Beattie’s exit – amid a bitter dispute with party officers – has left unresolved tensions within the party, which are at times more to do with personalities than policies.

The New Year resignation of prominent Ballymoney councillor Darryl Wilson wasn’t a great start to 2025 for Mike Nesbitt, coming at a time when the party was keen to focus on its vision for transforming Northern Ireland’s health service through his position as health minister.

A defection to the DUP, a possibility left open by Councillor Wilson’s resignation statement, its is a headline the party could have avoided by keeping him on board after the row.

The UUP has been troubled by divisions for years, and many people within the party say that it needs to reform if it is to survive, let alone thrive. While many of the rows over the past decade – and particularly early in Doug Beattie’s tenure – were about the general direction of the party, it is now riven with divisions about how it reforms, and where the power lies in the party.

Councillor Wilson’s departure is symptomatic of that. The previous leader had favoured him to replace Robin Swann as an MLA in North Antrim, but the local association chose Colin Crawford. A simmering dispute between the leader and party officers erupted in public, and led to Mr Beattie quitting.

As reported in today’s News Letter most of the party’s MLAs didn’t attend a Christmas party amid internal frictions, and the fallout of Doug Beattie’s departure. If it transpires that Mike Nesbitt is frustrated in his efforts to reform the party – as he pledged – it raises questions about the governability of the UUP.