Mike Nesbitt has been appointed as Health Minister in the Northern Ireland Executive.
The former UUP leader has served as Private Secretary to the Health Secretary since April in preparation for him taking on the ministerial job.
Robin Swann has left the Executive to focus on campaigning in the upcoming general election.
He was selected by Ulster Unionist leader Doug Beattie to run in South Antrim.
Swann, and the rest of the UUP, voted against the budget that was passed in the Northern Ireland Assembly today, saying that it would cause “irreparaible damage” to the health service.
Speaking to the media in Belfast, Health Minister Mike Nesbitt said it was “the political honour of my life to have the opportunity to follow Robin Swann into the role and it’s certainly the ultimate political challenge of my life to take up as Health Minister at this time.”
Nesbitt served as the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party from 2012 until 2017, and has been an MLA for Strangford since 2011.
This is his first ministerial appointment, but has served as the UUP’s Econony Spokesperson, and on the Northern Ireland Policing Board.
Today, in the Speaker's Office Mr Mike Nesbitt MLA, @mikenesbittni, @uuponline, affirmed the pledge of office to become @healthdpt Minister. pic.twitter.com/L7eV6Kst9y
— Northern Ireland Assembly (@niassembly) May 29, 2024
