PART of Jon Burrows’ appeal to UUP members was the prospect of a leader who would take control, enthuse the electoral base and end the ongoing, seemingly unstoppable cycle of headlines about internal divisions and defections.

Crucially, they wanted someone who, in outshining and outperforming Gavin Robinson and Jim Allister, would transform the party into an electorally credible force after 15 or so years of just about treading water.

Concerns about his handling of the fallout with Doug Beattie and his perceived attempt to deselect a few sitting MLAs were calmed by a LucidTalk poll a few weeks ago in which the UUP, albeit by just one percentage point, nudged ahead of the DUP to become the largest of the three unionist parties.

Given the travails facing the DUP, there would have been a hope that the Ulster Unionist lead might have been greater – but it was still enough to garner ‘UUP largest party’ headlines.

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The fallout with Mike Nesbitt is on a different scale,........

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