Robbie Butler on Mike Nesbitt's first speech as UUP leader

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Transcript

00:00So Robbie, what did you make of Mike Nesbitt's speech today, and do you have any regrets

00:05about not running for the position yourself?

00:07No, I don't actually. I'm very grateful that Mike did step up as leader a second time.

00:13And you know, if you were to play Mike's speech back the first time that he was leader, which

00:17was before I came into the party, and play it back now, I don't think there'd be a whole

00:20lot of difference. And I think Mike possibly feels like he has some influence on his business.

00:25And Mike's style of unionism certainly is one of the reasons why I got involved in politics

00:28in 2014, and then 2016 as an MLA, he was my first leader. And we've had a few excellent

00:35leaders since then. So I'm looking forward to Mike giving leadership. But there will

00:39be a new energy, a new leadership team. And hopefully that dynamic will be very obvious

00:45for people to see and the public and obviously, our constituents and future voters.

00:50There was a lot in the speech today about changing how unionism is perceived by others

00:56and reaching out to others. How is that going to happen practically? How can you attract

01:00people who traditionally would have been nationalists to vote for the Ulster Unionist Party?

01:04Well, I think there are a number of things. There are obviously some people that you're

01:08never going to attract because constitutional preferences run deep and, you know, the constitutional

01:15preference perhaps may not be up for grabs. But what is up for grabs are those political

01:19parties that have priorities that reach into the very heart of the daily life grind of

01:24people out there who are facing challenges in and around accessing equitable education

01:29for their children, whether that's through special education needs or indeed disabilities.

01:34It could be in and around the childcare space where particularly professional mums are finding

01:39it hard to access the same workplace benefits that men have for years and so childcare has

01:45a part in that. So that's obviously a priority. We've taken on the health brief again because

01:50we see the need for stability and leadership in health and then through those and many

01:56other policies that we'll bring our policy and challenge to, I think people will see

02:01the hard work that we do on the ground and the connectivity that we're going to achieve

02:05in our communities and people will know us better and I think trust us more and then

02:09give us the vote in future elections hopefully.