Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) leader Mike Nesbitt has announced he will resign.

With the UUP failing to make any ground on the Democratic Unionists in the Northern Ireland Assembly elections, and losing a number of high-profile seats, the former TV anchor fell on his sword, saying: “The buck stops here.”

His campaign pledge to transfer a second preference vote to the nationalist SDLP appears to have been his undoing, with unionist voters clearly not keen on him voicing support for any candidate that favoured a united Ireland.

He said that he will remain in position while his successor is found.

Mr Nesbitt was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2011 and retained his seat in the 2017 poll. He will remain as member for Strangford and said it had been an “absolute honour” to lead the party.

“In pure terms the buck stops here,” he said.

He said his real regret was that Northern Ireland society appeared to have emerged from the election more polarised.

Mr Nesbitt said the electorate had rejected his hope for a post-sectarian vote.

“We will get there,” he said. “Some day Northern Ireland will vote as a normal democracy. We will vote in a post-sectarian election but it's now clear it will not happen during the duration of my political career.” </s> Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Mike Nesbitt announced his resignation at a news conference on Friday evening

The Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt has announced he is resigning.

The former broadcaster was elected to the Assembly in 2011 as an MLA for Strangford and became leader in March 2012 when Tom Elliott stood down after just 18 months in the job.

Although he retained his seat in the 2017 Assembly election, several of his party colleagues failed to retain theirs.

Mr Nesbitt said he would remain in the post until a successor has been found.

The Ulster Unionist Party's (UUP) poor election performance saw a number of party figures losing their seats.

Jo-Anne Dobson, Harold McKee, Jenny Palmer and former Stormont minister Danny Kennedy all failed to be returned.

Mike Nesbitt's career

He became a sports presenter at the BBC NI and also anchored the station's flagship Good Morning Ulster radio programme

He switched channels and joined UTV where he presented its evening news programme for 10 years, and during that time co-presented with his wife Lynda Bryans

In 2008, he was appointed a Victims' Commissioner, a role designed to promote the interests of victims of the Troubles

However, he left the commission when he joined the Ulster Unionists in 2010

At a news conference on Friday evening, the UUP leader said it would be the "height of hypocrisy" if he did not take "full responsibility" for his party's results.

However, he said he would remain as an MLA for Strangford.

'Performance'

Mr Nesbitt said the electorate had rejected his message.

"I am the one who suggested that in a normal society people would vote on performance and that the DUP and Sinn Féin did not earn another mandate," he said.

"I'm also the one who said this should be Northern Ireland's first post-sectarian election based on the economy and education and health and housing and that I had a different vision but the electorate disagreed.

Image caption Doug Beattie said he was saddened to hear of Mr Nesbitt's departure, describing him as a 'personal friend and colleague'

"They certainly did not give me a mandate big enough for me to feel justified in continuing in this position so I shall not."

Party colleague, Doug Beattie, who was re-elected as an MLA in Upper Bann said he was saddened to hear that Mr Nesbitt was standing down as he was a "personal friend and colleague".

Former party colleague John McCallister described it as an "honourable decision".

The Alliance Party leader Naomi Long said she was "quite shocked by how swiftly he had decided to depart the stage".

Image copyright Pacemaker Image caption Mr Nesbitt presented UTV's evening news programme for 10 years

In the May 2016 Assembly election, Mr Nesbitt said he was "stunned" when he topped the poll in Strangford.

The UUP secured 16 seats at Stormont last year - the same number as the 2011 election.

Opposition

He said the UUP's campaign had been neither a success, nor a failure.

Following the assembly elections in May 2016, Mr Nesbitt led the UUP into opposition at Stormont alongside the SDLP.

In February, Mr Nesbitt faced criticism after saying he intended to give the SDLP his second preference in the Assembly election.

Image caption Mr Nesbitt joked that he was reassured to know Danny Kennedy, sitting behind him, had been listening to his comments on the BBC's Sunday Politics programme

Ulster Unionists had wanted the election to be a referendum on how the Renewable Heat Incentive debacle was handled but instead the focus turned to his comments.

Senior party colleague, Danny Kennedy, who lost his seat as an MLA in Newry and Armagh, publically distanced himself from Mr Nesbitt in the aftermath of his remarks.

UUP councillor Carol Black resigned from the party as a result of his comments saying the party's "whole ethos" had been destroyed by Mr Nesbitt's voting intentions.

Mr Nesbitt defended his remarks and said he had received "very little criticism" while spending a lot of time time knocking doors in heavily unionist areas. </s> Mike Nesbitt was a former television anchorman who abandoned broadcasting for public service.

He was born in 1957 in Belfast. Before becoming a politician, he had a long and varied career in television, presenting the evening news programme on UTV for a decade.

In 2008, he was appointed as a Victims’ Commissioner for the Troubles, representing the needs of those injured during 30 years of conflict in the North.

Mr Nesbitt then joined the UUP in 2010 and was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2011 as a representative for the constituency of Strangford, south of Belfast.

A smooth and assured performer in debate, he was elected leader of the UUP in 2012, succeeding the more traditional Tom Elliott.

However, the party was in decline at the time and he struggled to reverse its position.

At the Westminster election in 2015, the UUP returned two MPs, despite Nesbitt’s calls for a unionist pact with the DUP.

By the following year he had joined forces with the nationalist SDLP in opposition to the DUP. He started promising a post-sectarian future for the North.

In last year’s Assembly election, he failed to shake the DUP’s dominance, as Arlene Foster took over leadership of the larger party.

He resigned as party leader on Friday while some of his embattled party colleagues fought for their political lives in the latest Assembly election.

However, he will remain as an MLA for Strangford. </s> BELFAST (Sputnik) — Speaking in Belfast, Nesbitt said the early results, in which UUP failed to make gains, showed voters had not given him a mandate to continue as leader.

"It has been an absolute honor to have led the Ulster Unionist Party and a challenge like no other," Nesbitt stated. "My only regret is that the results seem to suggest this society is more polarised than ever rather than more united, which was my aspiration."

Northern Ireland’s complex system of government requires the assembly to be jointly led by a nationalist and unionist political parties or by either with a third party. Sinn Fein and the DUP have occupied the first minister and deputy first minister positions for a decade.

Sinn Fein was leading in early results on Friday night with the unionist parties facing the possibility of not having an assembly majority for the first time. </s> Nationalism made major strides at the expense of unionists in the Northern Ireland Assembly elections yesterday.

Unionists have lost their long enduring and highly symbolic overall majority in the chamber.

Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt announced his resignation after a poor showing, while DUP leader and former first minister Arlene Foster will face scrutiny after her party fell below the threshold to trigger a contentious Stormont veto mechanism.

The DUP have 28 seats, Sinn Fein had 27, SDLP 12, the UUP 10, the Alliance Party 8, the Greens 2, People Before Profit 1, the Traditional Unionist Voice 1 and Independent Unionist 1.

The nationalist SDLP fared better than many expected, replacing the UUP as the third largest party in the Assembly.

The results may be rendered moot if the main parties fail to a strike a deal to form a new powersharing executive within three weeks.

In neighbouring constituency Fermanagh South Tyrone, DUP Leader Arlene Foster topped the poll and was elected on the second count with 8754 votes. Sinn Féin's Michelle Gildernew and Jemmas Dolan were elected on the third count.

Sinn Féin's Sean Lynch and UUP Rosemary Barton were elected on the forth count, without reaching the quota. DUP Maurice Morrow and SDLP Richie McPhillips both fell short of being elected. </s> The Democratic Unionist Party has been narrowly returned as the biggest party but Sinn Féin was the biggest winner in the NI Assembly election.

The party has come within a seat of drawing level with the DUP, which came into the election with 10 more seats.

There were a number of electoral surprises - the most dramatic was the announcement by Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt that he was to resign.

Sinn Féin and the DUP have three weeks to establish a government.

A total of 64.8% of the electorate voted - up 10 points on last year's assembly election.

Former First Minister and DUP leader Arlene Foster, Sinn Féin's northern leader Michelle O'Neill, Alliance Party leader Naomi Long and SDLP leader Colum Eastwood are among those elected.

Mike Nesbitt won his seat at the Strangford count but shortly afterwards, he announced that he was to stand down as Ulster Unionist leader following his party's poor performance.

Indicating that he will remain in position until his successor is found, he said his real regret was that Northern Ireland's society appeared to have emerged from the election more polarised.

"Some day Northern Ireland will vote as a normal democracy," he said. "We will vote in a post-sectarian election, but it's now clear it will not happen during the duration of my political career."

While Mr Nesbitt held his Assembly seat, other high-profile MLAs were not so lucky.

The SDLP's Alex Attwood, the UUP's Danny Kennedy, and the DUP's Nelson McCausland and Lord Morrow were four former executive ministers who failed to secure a return to a Stormont legislature that is being cut from 108 to 90 members.

Other casualties include the UUP's Jo-Anne Dobson, former DUP minister Jonathan Bell, who stood as an independent, and People Before Profit's Eamon McCann who was elected as an MLA last May but lost his seat in Foyle.

The turnout for the election was the highest since the vote which followed the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.

The election - the second in 10 months - was called after the collapse of a coalition led by Arlene Foster's DUP and Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness.

Mr McGuinness resigned over Mrs Foster's refusal to step aside as first minister pending an inquiry into the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme, which could cost the Northern Ireland tax payer £490m.

Under Northern Ireland's power-sharing agreement, the government must be run by Irish nationalists and unionists together.

The largest unionist and nationalist parties after the election will have three weeks to form a power-sharing government to avoid devolved power returning to the British parliament at Westminster for the first time in a decade.

A total of 1,254,709 people were eligible to vote for 228 candidates competing for 90 seats in 18 constituencies.

The BBC News NI website will carry all the latest on the election throughout the weekend.

There will also be special election programmes running on BBC Radio Ulster from 09:00 GMT . </s> The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) secured 12 seats, the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) won 10 seats, the Alliance Party – 8, the Greens got two seats and the People Before Profit and Traditional Unionist Voice each got one seat. One seat was secured by an independent unionist.

The turnout at the elections was almost 65 percent.

UUP leader Mike Nesbitt said he was going to resign after his party demonstrated poor results. </s> Sinn Féin and the Democratic Unionists are on course to reinforce their grip on power at Stormont, with the republican party closing the gap on their unionist rivals.

Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt quit after his party’s poor showing in the Assembly election. With the UUP failing to make any ground on the Democratic Unionists, and losing a number of high-profile seats, the former TV anchor fell on his sword. He said he will remain in position while a successor is found.

Mr Nesbitt said his real regret was that Northern Irish society appeared to have emerged from the election more polarised. He said the electorate had rejected his hope for a post-sectarian vote.

It has not been a good election for the Ulster Unionists and nationalist SDLP, both of whom failed to make the inroads they predicted. The vote share of the cross- community Alliance Party has risen.

Sinn Féin came within touching distance of polling the most first-preference votes for the first time.

The DUP maintained the top spot, despite its vote share falling as the Sinn Féin share surged. The DUP notched 225,413 first preferences, down 1.11 percentage points on last year, to Sinn Féin’s 224,245 — an increase of 3.89 percentage points.

In terms of the overall picture, the DUP secured 28.06% of first preferences to Sinn Féin’s 27.91% The final breakdown of seats may not ultimately be as close, as results in the proportional representation contest rely on transfers from other parties, but the republicans were nevertheless buoyed by the result.

The party’s northern leader Michelle O’Neill said: “I think it’s a brilliant day for equality; I think it’s a great day for democracy.

“I want to particularly commend all of our candidates that have been elected.

“The vote has increased. I think that is because people knew that action needed to be taken; they have had their say, we now need to get down to the business of fixing what’s wrong and delivering for all citizens.”

The poll was forced after Sinn Féin pulled the plug on the power-sharing institutions in protest at DUP first minister Arlene Foster’s handling of a botched green energy scheme, the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI).

The campaign exposed other major policy disputes between the parties.

After being elected in her Fermanagh and South Tyrone constituency, Ms Foster said: “I think it’s very clear that was absolutely not about RHI. It may have been the excuse but it certainly wasn’t the cause of the election.

“The cause of the election was Sinn Féin and republicanism wanting to rerun the election. They have mobilised their vote in a very effective way.

“I am pleased that the DUP has come out as the largest party in terms of votes. It is very clear in terms of unionism that it is the Democratic Unionist Party that speaks for unionism.”

She added: “I do hope devolution will get back up and running as quickly as possible.”

The DUP and Sinn Féin will have three weeks to resolve their multiple differences and form a new administration.

The reimposition of direct rule from London is on the cards if the post-election talks fail.

If the three-week post- election deadline passes, Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire is legally obliged to call yet another election.

However, in those circumstances, the government may pass emergency legislation to suspend devolution for the first time in 10 years, ahead of more lengthy negotiations.

In a major blow to the UUP, party stalwart Danny Kennedy lost his seat in Newry and Armagh.

His elimination followed the loss of another Stormont veteran — the SDLP’s Alex Attwood in west Belfast.

Mr Kennedy was a minority unionist voice in the Newry and Armagh constituency, which includes South Armagh and a former regional development minister at Stormont.

A massive swell in voting numbers has largely favoured Sinn Féin. Mr Kennedy said: “Sometimes when the tide comes in like that, you are washed away.”

Mr Attwood was a political Houdini who scraped into a seat repeatedly in the republican stronghold of west Belfast for the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP).

He was the first heavy hitter to go during an election in which the reduction in the number of Stormont seats from 108 to 90 made casualties inevitable.

SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said Sinn Féin were the “net beneficiaries” of a huge nationalist turnout intent on punishing Ms Foster.

“The Sinn Féin vote has gone up very highly, which is a result of the overall context of this election, which has been pitched as a battle between the DUP and Sinn Féin,” he said.

“Those of us in the middle have been clearly squeezed.”

Turnout in the Northern Ireland Assembly election hit its highest level since the year of the Good Friday peace agreement.

Almost two thirds of the electorate voted with the future of powersharing hanging in the balance.

The number taking to the ballot boxes swelled to 64.78%, 10 percentage points higher than last year’s Stormont poll.

The snap Stormont Assembly election was called following January’s collapse of the ministerial coalition with the DUP and Sinn Féin at its helm in a row over a botched green energy scheme.

Soaring viewing figures for the two main TV leaders’ debates had hinted at a surge in voter engagement, something borne out on polling day.

What impact the increased turnout will have on the results will only start to become clear today.

In the first Assembly election after devolution began, in June 1998, 69.88% of voters turned out.

It came just months after the Belfast Agreement, which largely ended the 30-year conflict.

Some of the 18 constituency counts are set to extend into today.

A total of 228 candidates are vying for the 90 seats in Stormont’s slimmed-down devolved legislature.

The Assembly poll was the second in 10 months.

The last coalition executive led by the two largest parties at Stormont — the Democratic Unionists and Sinn Féin — collapsed in January, only eight months after last May’s election.

They fell out over the unionist party’s handling of a botched green energy scheme and are also at odds on a host of other issues.

If the former partners in government are again returned as the main players, they will have three weeks to resolve their multiple differences and form a new administration.

The reimposition of direct rule from London is on the cards if the post-election talks fail.

The Ulster Unionists and nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), which have presented themselves as an alternative partnership, are bidding to wrest control away from the fractious former allies.

The cross-community Alliance Party is also hopeful of a strengthened mandate.

If the three-week post-election deadline passes, Northern Ireland secretary James Brokenshire is legally obliged to call yet another election.

Five seats are up for grabs per constituency. </s> Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams has said the "perpetual unionist majority" at Stormont has been "demolished" following the result of the Northern Ireland Assembly election.

A jubilant Adams said it was a "watershed" moment after his party closed to within a solitary seat of the Democratic Unionist Party.

Having entered the election 10 seats ahead of Sinn Fein, the DUP's advantage was slashed to a solitary seat.

The DUP have 28 seats to Sinn Fein's 27. The nationalist SDLP got 12 seats with the Ulster Unionist Party. The UUP leader Mike Nesbitt resigned as a result of the poor campaign.

Adams said Sinn Fein's new leader in the north, Michelle O'Neill, will be holding talks with Prime Minister Theresa May and Irish Taoiseach Enda Kenny about the impact of Brexit on Ireland north and south over the next few weeks.

Speaking outside the party's West Belfast office, Adams said Sinn Fein wants to quickly engage in a process with other party leaders to ensure powersharing in the region is restored.

But he again insisted that the party will not support DUP leader Arlene Foster as Northern Ireland's first minister until she has been cleared of any wrongdoing related to the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scandal.

However, it could leave the executive in limbo for up to a year, as it emerges that the inquiry into RHI will not supply any preliminary findings to speed the process along.

"There is a need for this inquiry to come to conclusions before we can nominate (Arlene Foster) for a position of first minister," said Adams.

He added: "The first position we put was that Arlene Foster stand aside until a preliminary report. Now we are being told there will be no preliminary report.

"Our position is very straightforward. We will not be consenting to Arlene Foster being first minister until this issue is cleared up."

He added that "what was good enough for Peter Robinson (who twice stood aside as first minister amid controversy) is good enough for Arlene Foster".

O'Neill, who replaced Martin McGuinness in January, said she is to hold talks with both the British and Irish governments to discuss the way forward for the region's political institutions.

"I also made contact with the leaders of all the political parties to talk about next week and how we are going to conduct ourselves in the time ahead.

"We obviously have a period of three weeks in front of us and whilst the task isn't going to be easy it is achievable if people come at it with the right attitude.

"On Monday morning I will lead our team into the assembly where we are ready to deal with all the issues," she added.

The pro-Brexit DUP narrowly remained the region's largest party by just one seat as a Sinn Fein surge saw the republican party make major gains over the DUP.

DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson has insisted there is no question over Foster's future as party leader despite the party's disappointing performance.

Donaldson said that despite the bruising election the DUP is still the largest party and their focus now "is on Arlene and the party getting a government up and running again at Stormont".

"I must say, I am not aware of any election in the past where the leader of the largest party resigns because they have won the election.

"We need to learn the lesson and understand what people were saying in this election and what the key messages are.

"We have been given the responsibility as the main party to take the lead at Stormont and that is what we intend to do so we are not going to get bogged down on what some people want to focus on, which is personalities.

"Arlene is leading the largest party and we need to get on with the job of forming a government that works for us all," said Donaldson.

Sinn Fein and the DUP now have three weeks to establish a government.

If a government cannot be formed between the two main parties within that time then, under law, another election will be called.

However, Donaldson said he does not believe Westminster will want another election.

"If we can't get a government formed within three weeks I don't think the Westminster government will allow another election. I think they will introduce direct rule.

"We are determined to work to achieve (a powersharing government) but if it doesn't happen I fear we could be looking at a lengthy period of direct rule."

Only 1,168 first preference votes separated the DUP and Sinn Fein and, for the first time, Unionists will not have an overall majority at Stormont.

Amid the fallout, Mike Nesbitt said he would resign as Ulster Unionist leader.

It was a positive campaign for both the SDLP and Alliance who both maintained their seats.

The election was called after the collapse of a coalition led by Arlene Foster's DUP and Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness.

McGuinness resigned over Foster's refusal to step aside as first minister pending an inquiry into the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme, which could cost the Northern Ireland taxpayers £490m.
Mike Nesbitt announces he is standing down as leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) following the party's poor performance in yesterday's Northern Ireland Assembly election.