Burrows says he will not serve as Stormont minister if elected UUP leader

Jon Burrows has insisted party leadership is a full-time job as he made clear he would not serve as a Stormont minister if he takes the helm of the UUP.

Outgoing party leader Mike Nesbitt currently serves as Health Minister in the Executive – the party’s sole departmental portfolio within the devolved administration.

Mr Burrows told reporters at Stormont he would adopt a different approach if elected as Mr Nesbitt’s successor.

Asked if he would serve as a minister if be become party leader, he replied: “No, my position would be to lead the party. I think it’s a full-time job. I have no self-interest in being a minister. I want to lead the Ulster Unionist Party to grow it. So I will not be a minister, because I want to lead the party and make it the biggest party in Northern Ireland.”

Mr Burrows said he represented a brand of unionism that was “confident”, “clear” and “on the front foot”.

“And let’s be very clear about this – you can trust me to be as strong on the Union as anyone else,” he said.

“I will challenge, as I’ve done in the here (Stormont) and before I came in here, the rewriting industry. I will be strong on legacy. I will argue for the Union. But I’ll also build a broader coalition of people who support the Union by making Northern Ireland work. We need politics that deliver for people. I’m afraid there is a feeling in the country that people are dissatisfied with what they see and hear from Stormont.

“Fresh thinking is needed to secure the Union and get better services to the people of Northern Ireland.”

Asked about whether he would countenance electoral pacts with unionist rivals the DUP and TUV, Mr Burrows said he was not opposed to co-operation but he was not in favour of being part of any unionist merger.

“I’m a unionist who is strong in unionism. I’ve proven that. But I’m here to work with everyone to deliver for the people of Northern Ireland,” he said.

“Yes, there’s times for co-operation, but I haven’t joined the Ulster Unionist Party, and I’m not seeking to lead it, to merge it into a larger party.

“I want the Ulster Unionist Party to once again be the biggest party in Northern Ireland. That’s my ambition. And the people of Northern Ireland need an Ulster Unionist Party, with reasonableness and decency and integrity and that is rooted in finding solutions to the everyday problems that Stormont has failed to deliver on.”