Ulster Unionists want justice ministry - a post widely expected to be in the bag for Naomi Long

The UUP has internal differences over whether or not it should re-enter Stormont, or go into opposition.

If it opted for opposition, Doug Beattie would become the Leader of the Opposition instead of the SDLP’s Matthew O’Toole.

Alliance leader Naomi Long will be seeking the justice role again – and it is unlikely Sinn Fein would accept a justice minister from a unionist party. However, independent unionist Claire Sugden held the post in a short-lived SF/DUP administration between 2016-2017.

Andrew Muir is the Alliance Party’s favoured candidate for another ministry.

It is unclear who in the UUP would take the post – even if they got approval from the DUP and Sinn Fein – although Doug Beattie, Mike Nesbitt and Tom Elliott all have briefs which touch on the responsibilities of a justice minister.

A UUP spokesperson said: “The Ulster Unionist Party have been clear that any decision regarding entering the Executive would be predicated on a number of outcomes currently being discussed between the parties.”

The post comes with a series of huge challenges – including responsibility for administering the UK government’s legacy act.

While some in the Alliance Party openly backed legal action taken by the Irish government over that legislation – Naomi Long sidestepped questions from the News Letter over whether she supported the Irish legal action.

In a post on X, formerly twitter, the Alliance leader then said: “No need [for the News Letter] to ask in the first place. @StephenFarryMP and @EoinTennyson are elected representatives of the @allianceparty and speak on our behalf. I know it might be an odd concept, but when they state our position, that is our position.”

But she did not answer questions from the News Letter including whether the party would commit to upholding its legal obligations under the Legacy Act. For the act to be fully implemented, it would require actions by the Department of Justice.

Although the PSNI is accountable to the policing board – the current state of policing will be a huge challenge for an incoming minister. Mike Nesbitt has been on the Policing Board for a number of years, and has been outspoken about the reform he believes is required for the scrutiny body.