1. Mike Nesbitt has been the Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party since 30 August 2024 following his successful candidacy in the 2024 leadership election after previously serving in the role from 2012 to 2017.
54 Facts About Mike Nesbitt
1. 2.
Mike Nesbitt has been a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Strangford since 2011.
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Mike Nesbitt was appointed as the Ulster Unionist Party's Economy spokesperson by Doug Beattie, and was briefly the private secretary to the Health Minister, Robin Swann, in preparation for him succeeding Swann.
4.
Mike Nesbitt worked as a sports reporter at BBC Northern Ireland and progressed to presenting Good Morning Ulster on BBC Radio Ulster from 1986 to 1990.
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Mike Nesbitt joined UTV as a presenter and reporter in 1992, being joined by his wife Lynda Bryans to co-present evening news programme UTV Live in 1996.
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Mike Nesbitt hosted Counterpoint and made a guest appearance in comedy programme Everything You Know Is Wrong in 1998.
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In 2006, Mike Nesbitt announced he was not renewing his presenting contract with UTV.
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In January 2008, Mike Nesbitt was announced as a Commissioner of Victims and Survivors, a Northern Ireland Assembly role designed to promote the interests of victims of the Troubles.
9.
Mike Nesbitt lost out to the Democratic Unionist Party's Jim Shannon in the election.
10.
Mike Nesbitt is regarded as one of the more liberal unionists, he had previously stated his opposition to same-sex marriage, but spoke in favour in 2017.
11.
Mike Nesbitt has been compared to reforming and liberal Ulster Unionist Party Prime Minister of Northern Ireland Terence O'Neill by some historians and politicians.
12.
In May 2020, Mike Nesbitt resigned as deputy chair of an Assembly committee after he admitted breaking COVID-19 lockdown rules by visiting a female friend.
13.
Mike Nesbitt was the UUP representative on the NI Policing Board from July 2020 until 2024.
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Mike Nesbitt voiced concerns over the safety implications of the PSNI data leak.
15.
In 2024, Mike Nesbitt was appointed as the private secretary to the Health Minister, Robin Swann, and succeeded Swann as Health Minister following his resignation following the calling of the 2024 general election, in which Swann was a candidate.
16.
Mike Nesbitt succeeded Robin Swann as Health Minister following his resignation on 28 May 2024.
17.
Mike Nesbitt's appointment prompted a resignation from the UUP after Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Councillor Paul Michael resigned citing Nesbitt's breach of the COVID-19 regulations during the pandemic in which he was involved in an extramarital affair as the reason.
18.
On 29 May 2024, Mike Nesbitt stated that he is not prepared to implement "catastrophic cuts" to services.
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Mike Nesbitt vowed not to shirk hard or controversial decisions in the remaining three years of the Assembly mandate.
20.
Mike Nesbitt visited L'Arche Village in Belfast and presented certificates at the Orchardville Society's annual awards at Titanic Belfast in his first engagements.
21.
Mike Nesbitt said that he would be a champion for both patients and healthcare staff.
22.
Mike Nesbitt welcomed the increase in the number of people supporting organ donation in Northern Ireland following the one year anniversary of the introduction of Daithi's Law on 31 May 2024.
23.
On 3 June 2024, Mike Nesbitt made his opening statement to the Northern Ireland Assembly as Health Minister.
24.
Mike Nesbitt stressed the importance of being aware of the dangers of UV exposure on 5 June 2024.
25.
Mike Nesbitt visited Kirkinriola Primary School to take part in a Cancer Focus Northern Ireland Sun Scientist session.
26.
On 12 June 2024, Mike Nesbitt said that the Health Inequalities Annual Report must be essential reading across all parts of public life in Northern Ireland, stating that health inequalities are 'a challenge to us all.
27.
Mike Nesbitt congratulated Health and Social Care staff honoured in the 2024 Birthday Honours list on 14 June 2024.
28.
On 25 June 2024, Mike Nesbitt welcomed the publication of final draft NICE guidance recommending use of the drugs Kaftrio, Orkambi and Symkevi for cystic fibrosis.
29.
Mike Nesbitt praised local health trusts after Northern Ireland became the first region in the UK to have all its diagnostic imaging services accredited on 26 June 2024.
30.
On 28 June 2024, Mike Nesbitt praised a family-run GP surgery for its commitment to the rural community in South Armagh.
31.
Mike Nesbitt welcomed additional in-year funding for the Department of Health on 1 July 2024.
32.
On 9 July 2024, Mike Nesbitt announced that core grant funding for community and voluntary organisations will be maintained.
33.
Mike Nesbitt announced a series of key initiatives planned for the next six months on 10 July 2024.
34.
On 11 July 2024, Mike Nesbitt made his first visit to Altnagelvin Hospital.
35.
Mike Nesbitt met with staff across a range of services and took a tour of the facilities.
36.
Mike Nesbitt emphasised that reforming adult social care is about so much more than easing hospital pressures.
37.
Mike Nesbitt highlighted the role of Elective Care Centres in helping to reduce lengthy waiting lists during a visit to the Western Trust Elective Overnight Stay Centre on 24 July 2024.
38.
On 21 August 2024, Mike Nesbitt appointed Northern Ireland's first independent Autism Reviewer.
39.
Mike Nesbitt welcomed confirmation from the BMA Northern Ireland consultants committee that it will accept the pay offer tabled by the Department of Health on 23 August 2024.
40.
On 27 August 2024, Mike Nesbitt extended the appointment of Professor Siobhan O'Neill as the Mental Health Champion for Northern Ireland.
41.
Mike Nesbitt acknowledged the "immensely valuable" contribution made by internationally recruited staff in Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland on 29 August 2024.
42.
On 11 September 2024, Mike Nesbitt launched a new health and wellbeing framework for staff working within Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland.
43.
Mike Nesbitt was elected as UUP party leader on 31 March 2012.
44.
Mike Nesbitt defeated South Down assembly member John McCallister with a final vote tally of 536 votes to 129.
45.
Mike Nesbitt said he wanted the UUP to become "the party of choice for every pro-union voter in Northern Ireland".
46.
Shortly after his election, Mike Nesbitt received attention when he criticised the Alliance Party, a rival party of the UUP.
47.
Mike Nesbitt called them "unprincipled and driven by self-interest" and said they presided over "a catalogue of disasters".
48.
Mike Nesbitt has tried to present a unionism which is more accommodating to aspects of Irish culture; for example he visited the Gaeltacht Quarter on the Falls Road, Belfast as the first step in trying to overturn the perception of some that his party is hostile to the Irish language.
49.
On 27 August 2024, following the resignation of Doug Beattie as UUP leader, the News Letter reported that Mike Nesbitt would be the only candidate to succeed him and would run on a ticket of reforming the party.
50.
Mike Nesbitt will remain as Health Minister when he takes up the leadership role.
51.
Mike Nesbitt will become the first person to have twice held the position of UUP leader.
52.
Mike Nesbitt will deliver his first speech as the new UUP leader remotely after he failed to recover from COVID-19 in time to attend the party's annual conference.
53.
Mike Nesbitt attended Campbell College, Belfast and studied at Jesus College, Cambridge.
54.
Mike Nesbitt worked for a public relations company between his careers at BBC Northern Ireland and UTV.