Who is the next UUP leader Jon Burrows?

Jon Burrows has at least one thing in common with the last Ulster Unionist leader, Mike Nesbitt.

Both men had been politicians for less than a year before going on to become leader of their party.

In Nesbitt’s case he was an assembly member at Stormont for just 10 months before he took on the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) mantle; for Burrows it has been an even more rapid rise to the top after being co-opted to the party’s North Antrim seat just last August.

Evidently the appeal of a shiny new voice with something to say appeals to many within the UUP’s grassroots.

And Bangor-born Burrows clearly has plenty to say despite his short time in front-line politics, having come from a previous career in policing spanning more than two decades.

As the former area commander for Foyle and head of the internal discipline branch until he retired in 2021, Burrows knows the task at hand in managing his party’s own affairs.

One UUP source recently summed up their feelings on the matter, saying: “There is deep concern in some parts about Jon being in charge, mainly among the MLA team.”

Time will tell if that warning comes to anything significant that could amount to a split or if he can quell the unhappiness, which is in large part down to his newcomer status and made more difficult by looming electoral tests.

He has to get the party battle ready for assembly and local government elections that are little over a year away – not exactly an ideal amount of time to plan and execute a successful electoral strategy.

He may have succeeded in securing the top job in his party but Burrows will face a bigger challenge of getting elected to the North Antrim seat.

But we aren’t likely to know precisely how many of those members would have backed Burrows, as unlike when Mike Nesbitt won the leadership for Burrows, it is set to be a coronation, not a contest.

The UUP has held a safe seat in the constituency since 2003, but critics of Burrows say much of that support in recent years was a personal vote for Robin Swann, now the South Antrim MP.

While being leader of the party will undoubtedly boost his profile, he could still face a bunfight with Alliance and the DUP, who will be looking to regain a second seat they lost in the 2022 election.

Announcing his candidacy Burrows said he would not take up the UUP’s ministry in the executive, insisting he had no “self-interest” in that and wants to make the UUP the biggest party again in Northern Ireland.

The new leader has other issues in his in-tray other than saving his own seat and securing more support for his party.

In recent months, unionist leaders have talked at length about the political chestnut of unionist unity – effectively working together and running (or not running in some cases) candidates in agreed areas to ensure a higher number of unionist MLAs are returned to Stormont than nationalist parties.

Given unionism lost its overall majority at Stormont almost a decade ago, you don’t have to be a political scientist to figure out that unionism is struggling to crack that nut.

How Burrows approaches this issue will be key for his relationships with the other unionist leaders, the DUP’s Gavin Robinson and the TUV’s Jim Allister – both of whom are MPs at Westminster.

He isn’t afraid to get stuck into other political rivals on various issues within the assembly and has made no secret of how he thinks Alliance leader Naomi Long is doing in running the Department of Justice (DoJ).

The justice minister has often hit back, arguing that Burrows is merely chasing controversy where there is none for the sake of publicity.

Burrows insists it’s about holding Stormont to higher standards but he’ll now have his work cut out to improve the UUP’s standing.