Jon Burrows joins race for UUP leadership

The North Antrim assembly member (MLA) Jon Burrows is in the running to become the next leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP).

Burrows, a former senior police officer who only joined the party last summer, made the announcement at Stormont on Thursday.

On Wednesday, the party said it will have an extraordinary general meeting on 31 January and elect a new leader and deputy leader then after Mike Nesbitt announced he would be standing down.

Burrows has been an MLA since July when he was co-opted to replace Colin Crawford in North Antrim.

He described himself as an “unapologetic unionist who will always advocate confidently for Northern Ireland’s place in the United Kingdom”.

Under his leadership, Burrows said the UUP will be “clear, credible and on the front foot”.

He said his priorities would be competence and delivery, cutting waste, economic growth, and better public services.

Formal nominations opened on Wednesday and will close on 15 January.

As part of this process, the party will also host two internal, members-only, hustings events to allow prospective candidates to engage directly with the membership.

There has also been speculation that the current deputy leader, Robbie Butler, who is from the liberal wing of the party will stand for the leadership.

Burrows said the Fermanagh and South Tyrone assembly member Diana Armstrong would be his running mate for deputy leader.

He described Armstrong as a “proven politician and a successful entrepreneur”.

Armstrong has been an MLA since September 2024 when she was co-opted to replace former Fermanagh and South Tyrone MLA Tom Elliott, after he was given a life peerage.

She is the only female MLA the UUP has at Stormont.

Armstrong’s political career began in 2016 when she was co-opted onto Fermanagh and Omagh District Council. She was again re-elected in 2023.

Her father Harry West was a former unionist MP and leader of the UUP between 1974 and 1979.

Speaking after the announcement, Armstrong said she “does not underestimate the significance” of being nominated as the first female Deputy Leader in the 101 year history of the Ulster Unionist Party.

Armstrong said that if elected, she would “speak for women, rural communities and for the West”.

Armstrong conceded that “tough decisions will have to be made”, but said the public are ready for a “rejuvenated Ulster Unionist Party, confident in its purpose, clear in its direction and ambitious for the future”.