About Mike Nesbitt
Michael Nesbitt, MLA (born 11 May 1957) is a Northern Irish politician and former broadcaster. He has been Minister of Health since 28 May 2024. Nesbitt became Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) on 30 August 2024, following his successful candidacy in the 2024 leadership election, and left the position on 31 January 2026; he had previously served in that role from 2012 to 2017. He has been a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Strangford since 2011. Nesbitt was appointed as the Ulster Unionist Party's Economy spokesperson by Doug Beattie and was briefly the private secretary to the Health Minister, Robin Swann, in preparation for him succeeding Swann. Following Beattie's resignation as UUP leader on 19 August 2024, Nesbitt launched a successful campaign to succeed him. In January 2026, he announced his resignation as UUP leader for the second time, leading to another leadership contest. == Broadcasting career == Nesbitt worked as a sports reporter at BBC Northern Ireland and progressed to presenting Good Morning Ulster on BBC Radio Ulster from 1986 to 1990. Nesbitt joined UTV as a presenter and reporter in 1992, being joined by his wife Lynda Bryans to co-present evening news programme UTV Live in 1996. Nesbitt and Bryans also co-presented weekly religious series Sunday Morning for Anglia Television from 1999 to 2001, and two series of home and garden series Home Sweet Home for UTV. Nesbitt also hosted Counterpoint and made a guest appearance in comedy programme Everything You Know Is Wrong in 1998.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.