Doug Beattie
MC MLA
18th Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party
Assumed office
27 May 2021
DeputyRobbie Butler
Preceded bySteve Aiken
Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly
for Upper Bann
Assumed office
5 May 2016
Preceded bySam Gardiner
Ulster Unionist Party spokesperson for Justice
Assumed office
24 May 2021
Personal details
Born (1965-10-13) 13 October 1965
Hampshire, England[1]
Political partyUlster Unionist Party
SpouseMargaret Beattie
ChildrenLuke
Leigh
Residence(s)Portadown, County Armagh
Alma materRoyal Military College, Sandhurst
Profession
  • Soldier
  • politician
WebsiteOfficial website
Military service
Allegiance United Kingdom
Branch/service British Army
Years of service1982–2016 (regular)
2016–present (reserves)
RankCaptain
UnitRoyal Irish Regiment
Battles/warsThe Troubles
Kosovo War
Iraq War
War in Afghanistan
AwardsMilitary Cross
Queen's Commendation for Bravery
NATO Meritorious Service Medal

Douglas Ricardo Beattie MC MLA (born 13 October 1965) is a Northern Irish politician and former member of the British Army,[2] who has been leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) since 27 May 2021. He has been a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Upper Bann since 2016. He is characterised as a 'progressive' and 'liberal' unionist.

Early life

Beattie was born in 1965 in a military base in Hampshire; his father was a warrant officer in the Royal Ulster Rifles, a regiment of the British Army. The family returned to Portadown, County Armagh, Northern Ireland, when he was 10 following the ending of his father's regular service. The family moved into a house in Union Street, in the densely-populated Edgarstown area on the outskirts of the town centre.[3]

Beattie's mother died young, leaving his father (who had by this time enlisted with the Ulster Defence Regiment) to raise him, his three sisters and two brothers. At the age of 15 he accidentally shot a friend when the two of them found Beattie Snr's personal protection weapon and were playing with it. Although shot in the head, his friend recovered.[4]

Military career

At the age of 16, in 1982, Beattie joined the Royal Irish Rangers and following training was posted to the 2nd Battalion who were stationed in Wavell Barracks, Berlin.[5]

In over 28 years of service, he rose to the rank of Warrant Officer First Class (WO1) and was appointed regimental sergeant major. During that time he served in Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq and Northern Ireland, being awarded the General Officer NI commendation, the Queen's Commendation for Bravery (for saving the lives of enemy soldiers)[6] and the NATO Meritorious Service Medal. He was commissioned from the ranks in 2005, gaining promotion to captain.[7]

During the Afghanistan War, as part of the Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team, Captain Beattie was part of an operation to retake the town of Garmsir in Helmand Province. As a result of his actions during the intense fighting over several days, he was recommended for, and subsequently awarded, the Military Cross.[8]

Following his return from Afghanistan, Beattie published the first of two books, An Ordinary Soldier,[9] which became an immediate best seller in the United Kingdom and propelled him into the public eye.[10] Beattie's follow-up book was Task Force Helmand.[11]

Political career

After retiring from the army, Beattie joined the Ulster Unionist Party[12] and was elected to Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon District Council for the Portadown area in the 2014 local elections.[13]

In May 2016, he was elected as an MLA for the Upper Bann constituency.[14]

Before the 2017 Ulster Unionist Party leadership election, Beattie was named by commentators as a possible contender to replace former leader Mike Nesbitt; however, in the end only Robin Swann ran, and was elected unopposed.[15][16] In October 2019, after Swann announced he was standing down as leader of the party, Beattie ruled himself out of contention as the next leader and endorsed former Royal Navy commander Steve Aiken and served as Deputy instead.[17]

Beattie stood as a candidate for Member of Parliament for Upper Bann in the 2019 General Election.[18] He came fourth, losing to Carla Lockhart of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).

In May and September 2020 Beattie was threatened by the South East Antrim UDA after he condemned threats they had made against journalists.[19][20]

Beattie announced in May 2021 that he was putting his name forward to be the next leader of the UUP following the resignation of Steve Aiken. He said that he would be "able to reach out to all people in Northern Ireland regardless of what your religion is, sexual orientation or ethnicity".[21] Beattie was elected unopposed on 17 May 2021,[22] and officially became leader on 27 May 2021.

In January 2022, Beattie apologised after posting a joke on Twitter about the wife of DUP politician Edwin Poots.[23] In the aftermath, several of Beattie's historic tweets re-emerged, containing content that was perceived as "casually misogynistic", and including derogatory comments about women and members of the Irish Traveller community.[24][25] The tweets were posted between 2011 and 2014, while Beattie was still a serving soldier and before he entered politics. Beattie said that he was "deeply ashamed" of the tweets.[26]

Beattie attended protests against the Northern Ireland Protocol, the post-Brexit trade arrangements. In March 2022, he announced he would continue to oppose the Protocol but would no longer take part in the series of rallies. Beattie said they had been hijacked by loyalists to raise tensions "that now see a resurgence in UVF activity". Following this, his constituency office in Portadown was attacked,[27] and a poster of a noose around his neck appeared at a loyalist rally in Lurgan.[28]

Following losses for the UUP in the 2023 local elections, Beattie said that unionism was always likely to "take a hit across the board" due to Sinn Féin's growth.[29] He remarked, however, that "a fully functioning Stormont will stop the swing to Sinn Fein in its tracks."[30]

Throughout his leadership of the Ulster Unionist Party, Beattie has repeatedly called for the restoration of the devolved Northern Ireland Executive.[31] In August 2023, he said that the absence of a devolved government is "causing untold harm in Northern Ireland" and, without an Executive, Northern Ireland has "no say, no scrutiny and absolutely no power."[32]

Views

Beattie has been characterized as a 'progressive'[33] and 'liberal' within the UUP, but said upon his election as leader that those with conservative values had "nothing to fear" from him and that he would "tread a path to make sure that your voice is heard and I will never denigrate your opinion".[22][34] He proposed a motion in Stormont calling for a ban on gay conversion therapy, which passed, and argued it is "fundamentally wrong to view our LGBTQ community as requiring a fix or cure".[35]

Beattie is against the Northern Ireland Protocol, the post-Brexit trade arrangements, believing it is damaging to the Belfast Agreement. He said "I do not want a hardened border on the island of Ireland, but neither do I want a border in the Irish Sea".[35]

A former soldier, Beattie has pressed for Northern Ireland to adopt the Armed Forces Covenant and ensure support for military veterans and their families.[36] He also argues that soldiers who served during the Troubles should not be immune from prosecution, saying "Soldiers were here to stand between the terrorists and the terrorised. If they went outside the law then they have to face the law".[37]

Beattie is a firm supporter of devolution and has opposed boycotts of the devolved institutions in Northern Ireland.[38]

As a proponent of the Belfast Agreement, Beattie is opposed to the St Andrews Agreement as he believes it "changed" the Belfast Agreement and turned "every election into a sectarian headcount."[39]

References

  1. ↑ McNeilly, Claire (26 March 2018). "Doug Beattie: 'Not once did my dad tell me he loved me. But on his deathbed he handed me a little note..."". belfasttelegraph. Retrieved 18 January 2022. You were born in barracks in Hampshire, in 1965
  2. ↑ "Top UUP figures: we still believe in liberal unionism". www.newsletter.co.uk. News Letter. 10 June 2017. Retrieved 18 January 2022. Even I myself have always classed myself as being Irish, Northern Irish and British, but a proud unionist.
  3. ↑ "Authors: Doug Beattie". andrewlownie.co.uk.
  4. ↑ "'Why I stood up where there are bullets'". Telegraph.co.uk. 8 October 2009. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  5. ↑ "2nd Battalion The Royal Irish Rangers move to Berlin". royal-irish.com. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  6. ↑ The daily Telegraph, 2 September 2021
  7. ↑ "Doug Beattie: 'I wear the Military Cross for all the people who served'". BelfastTelegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
  8. ↑ "No. 57100". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 October 2003. pp. 6–7.
  9. ↑ Doug Beattie. "An Ordinary Soldier". Andrewlownie.co.uk. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
  10. ↑ Lamb, Christina (26 October 2008). "An Ordinary Soldier by Doug Beattie". The Sunday Times. ISSN 0956-1382. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  11. ↑ Flanagan, Julian. "'Why I stood up where there are bullets'". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  12. ↑ "Captain Doug Beattie joins UUP". UTV. 26 March 2014.
  13. ↑ "The 2014 Local Government Elections in Northern Ireland". Ark Northern Ireland Elections. 16 November 2019.
  14. ↑ Victor Gordon (7 May 2016). "UUP MLA Doug Beattie's election confirmed as he buries his tiny grandson – Belfast Newsletter". Newsletter.co.uk. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  15. ↑ "Ulster Unionist Party confirm Robin Swann as new leader". BBC News. 8 April 2017. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  16. ↑ "NI Election: Swann and Aiken front runners in quest to be the new leader of Ulster Unionists – BelfastTelegraph.co.uk". BelfastTelegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  17. ↑ "Doug Beattie rules himself out of UUP leadership race and backs Steve Aiken for role". BelfastTelegraph.co.uk. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  18. ↑ "Ulster Unionist Party unveils 16 General Election Candidates". BelfastTelegraph.co.uk. 14 November 2019.
  19. ↑ "Police warn politicians about loyalist paramilitary threats". BBC News. 11 May 2020.
  20. ↑ "Doug Beattie MLA threatened by loyalist paramilitaries". BBC News. 22 September 2020.
  21. ↑ "Doug Beattie declares bid to be next UUP leader". BBC News. 10 May 2021.
  22. 1 2 McCormack, Jayne (17 May 2021). "Doug Beattie is elected new leader of Ulster Unionist Party". BBC News. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  23. ↑ "UUP's Beattie in apology over DUP's Poots 'joke'". ITV News. 25 January 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  24. ↑ Hughes, Brendan (24 January 2022). "Revealed: Doug Beattie's history of casually misogynistic tweets". BelfastLive. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  25. ↑ McClements, Freya. "Pressure mounts on UUP leader Doug Beattie after emergence of old tweets". The Irish Times. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  26. ↑ "Doug Beattie will ask party to decide on leadership". BBC News. 25 January 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  27. ↑ "NI Protocol: Doug Beattie's office attack 'inevitable consequence'". BBC News. 28 March 2022.
  28. ↑ "Anger as Doug Beattie 'noose' poster is left ahead of Lurgan anti-NI Protocol rally". Belfast Telegraph. 8 April 2022.
  29. ↑ "UUP Leader says unionism 'likely to take hit across the board' as SF make election gains". UTV Live. 19 May 2023.
  30. ↑ "Doug Beattie: A fully functioning Stormont will stop the swing to Sinn Fein in its tracks".
  31. ↑ Hughes, Brendan; McCambridge, Jonathan (9 May 2023). "UUP leader: Local election choice between delivery or dysfunction". BelfastLive. Retrieved 21 August 2023. That is why it is the firm belief of the Ulster Unionist Party that the Assembly and Executive must be restored to deal with the challenges still posed by the Windsor Framework and to grasp its opportunities.
  32. ↑ "Absence of Devolved Executive Causing Untold Harm in Northern Ireland – Beattie". UUP Live. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  33. ↑ Noonan, Laura (6 June 2021). "Unionist upheaval risks fresh political crisis in Northern Ireland". Financial Times. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  34. ↑ "Doug Beattie : Some UUP members may not like my liberal credentials and may decide to leave the party". Belfast News Letter. 17 May 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  35. 1 2 "Doug Beattie: Who is the new leader of the UUP?". BBC News, 17 May 2021.
  36. ↑ "Doug Beattie: First ministers 'failing' military veterans". BBC News, 12 August 2016.
  37. ↑ "Troubles soldiers need legal protection says Sir Jeffrey Donaldson". BBC News, 22 April 2021.
  38. ↑ "Doug Beattie: Making Northern Ireland work is key to strengthening people's belief NI's future is within the UK - it's clear we need devolved government again at Stormont". News Letter. 20 April 2023.
  39. ↑ Doug Beattie [@BeattieDoug] (March 26, 2022). "The Belfast(Good Friday) Agreement was changed at St Andrews by SF & DUP to turn every election into a sectarian headcount. SF doubled down on that position as late as January this year when there was an opportunity to reverse it" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
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