Date of birth: 13 October 1965
Household: Married Margaret in 1987; 2 kids
Education: Left school at 16 without any official certifications, trained as a soldier at Taunton in Somerset
Profession: Served in the Army from 1982-2009, commissioned officer from 2004-2009. Ulster Unionist Celebration assembly member considering that 2016 and leader considering that 2021. Author of 2 books
Parliamentary constituency: None, represents Upper Bann in the Northern Ireland Assembly
Who is he?
When Doug Beattie took control of as leader of the Ulster Unionist Celebration (UUP) in Might 2021 he ended up being the 3rd leader of the celebration in simply over 4 years.
The celebration has actually experienced a bumpy ride in elections considering that it was gone beyond by the Democratic Unionist Celebration (DUP) at the Stormont survey in 2003 and the Westminster election of 2005.
However in the months following Mr Beattie’s election as leader, the UUP surpassed the DUP in viewpoint surveys.
The “Beattie bounce” did not last and the UUP consequently had tough regional and assembly surveys – however with some prominent prospects this time around, Mr Beattie still has hopes of restoring his celebration’s fortunes.
What did Doug Beattie do before politics?
Mr Beattie was born upon an Army base in Hampshire in 1965, where his daddy was serving in the Royal Ulster Rifles.
The household later on returned to Portadown in County Armagh however Mr Beattie followed in his daddy’s steps by signing up with the Royal Irish Rangers at the age of 16, going on to serve in Kosovo, east Africa and Iraq and increasing to the rank of regimental sergeant significant.
In 2005 he was commissioned as an officer at the rank of captain and served 3 trips of responsibility in Afghanistan.
For his actions in strong battling over numerous days in September 2006 he was granted the Armed force Cross – the third-highest award for gallantry in the face of the opponent.
He has actually composed 2 books about his experiences in Afghanistan.
When did he get associated with politics?
After retiring from the Army he signed up with the UUP and was chosen as a councillor in 2014 before winning a seat in Upper Bann in the assembly election 2 years later on.
There was speculation he would stand to be successful Mike Nesbitt as UUP leader in 2019 and although he backed Steve Aiken rather, he would ultimately take over from Mr Aiken in 2021.
He ended up being involved in debate in early 2022 when he made a joke about the spouse of the previous DUP leader Edwin Poots, which Mr Poots stated had actually demeaned ladies and particularly had actually demeaned his spouse.
Mr Beattie apologised, however a variety of historic tweets consequently emerged – a lot of which included negative remarks about ladies.
He apologised once again, stated he was “deeply embarrassed” and handled to remain in location as UUP leader.
Where is the UUP at the minute?
The UUP has actually had a bumpy ride of it in Westminster in current elections. In 2010 it stopped working to win any seats for the very first time considering that Northern Ireland was produced.
In 2015 the celebration won 2, however both MPs were beat in 2017 and no prospects achieved success in 2019 either.
At the last assembly elections in 2022 the UUP won 9 seats, below 10 at the previous election, although this sufficed to guarantee it stayed entitled to one ministerial post at Stormont.
The 2023 council elections were likewise bruising as the celebration lost 21 seats to end up with an overall of 54.
Mr Beattie has 2 prominent prospects which will bring in a lot of his attention on the project path.
One is Robin Swann in South Antrim, while in North Down retired Army officer Tim Collins is wishing to unseat Alliance’s Stephen Farry.
He will likewise deal with concerns about pacts – where one celebration stands down to benefit another.
These prevail in Northern Ireland where among the 2 unionist or nationalist celebrations stands aside to prevent splitting the vote.
In Fermanagh and South Tyrone, Mr Beattie stated he was opposed to a pact and the DUP consequently revealed it would not run its own prospect.
There is most likely to be pressure on the UUP to stand aside in Belfast North where the DUP was edged out by Sinn Féin last time around.
