Doug Beattie is expected to release a statement later today
There is growing speculation over Doug Beattie's future as leader of the Ulster Unionist Party after reports of internal dissatisfaction in recent weeks.
It is understood that tensions escalated following the selection of Colin Crawford to replace Robin Swann in the Assembly after he was elected to represent South Antrim in Westminster. The UUP have faced criticism in the past for a lack of female representation at Stormont where all nine of their MLAs are male. Mr Beattie also faced criticism in the past about a mysogistic joke that he made about Edwin Poots and his wife and he was forced to issue an apology after a number of controversial tweets were unearthed in which he had used racist and misogynistic language.
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