Mike Nesbitt is standing down as leader of the Ulster Unionist Party. He made the decision ahead of the 2027 Assembly election, saying he cannot commit to full-time politics until the end of the next mandate.
The new Permanent Secretary of the Department of Health has been announced as Mike Farrar, a former senior leader at NHS England. He will replace Peter May in April, who is retiring from the Civil Service.
Stormont’s Health Minister Mike Nesbitt has launched a new three-year plan for Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland, focused on three central themes of stablisation, reform and delivery.
Health Minister Mike Nesbitt has said the latest monitoring round agreed by the Northern Ireland Executive is ‘insufficient’ as he cannot maintain pay parity. The Department of Health will receive an additional £350 million, but he says he needs another £100 million.
The leaders of the five main parties at Stormont have written to the Government calling them to restore funding for the remaining two City and Growth Deals, after they were paused on Friday evening by the Chancellor.
The Ulster Unionist Party has confirmed their new leader will be Mike Nesbitt. This will be his second stint in the job, he was leader from 2012 until 2017. He will remain as Health Minister in the Northern Ireland Executive.
The former leader is set to return to the top job in the Ulster Unionist Party as he will run for the leadership unopposed. Mike Nesbitt is expected to remain as Health Minister when he takes up the role.
Politicians from a range of parties across Northern Ireland have been reacting to and condemning the violence and attacks in Belfast over the past week. The Assembly will meet on Thursday to discuss the violence following a recall petition.
The Executive has agreed to allocate an additional £122 million to the Department of Health and £43.7 million to the Department of Education as part of the June monitoring round, but the SDLP have criticised the timing of the annoucement with the general election on Thursday.