Jon Burrows MLA: ‘You have to evangelise for the union’
Jon Burrows MLA has had a meteoric rise in politics. Only six months after his co-option to the Assembly, he became leader of the Ulster Unionist Party. Burrows talks to Joshua Murray about his goal to “evangelise for the union”, how he believes a united Ireland would threaten the peace process, and his lack of trust in the UK Government.
Jon Burrows MLA has a background in policing. Born in October 1977, he followed in his father’s footsteps by joining the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) in 1995. He stayed in the organisation after it re-branded as the PSNI in 2001, and went on to serve as Area Commander in Foyle and head of the internal discipline branch. He retired in 2021, reportedly on health grounds.
Burrows’ pitch to voters is that he does not come from a political background and has worked a job outside politics. This, he says, is what will make him succeed where all Ulster Unionist Party leaders since David Trimble have failed, and reverse the fortunes of Northern Ireland’s oldest political party.
“That is what the difference will be. I am an ordinary person who has had a real job. I have been responsible for delivery. I have been responsible for managing risks. I was in a job where saying ‘we cannot do that’ was not an option. You have to get stuff done,” Burrows says.
After leaving the PSNI in 2021, Burrows spent a number of years doing media commentary on policing and justice issues, but this all changed when he was approached by an un-named official from the UUP in 2025 after the resignation of Colin Crawford as an MLA in North Antrim.
“I had gotten to know a number of politicians down the years… Some members of the Ulster Unionist Party said to me ‘we think you would be a good fit for the Ulster Unionist Party: pro-union, pro law and order, anti-sectarian, pro-business, pro-just values’.”
After being successfully interviewed by the party to be co-opted into the North Antrim seat, Burrows, who had never been a member of the UUP prior to this, says: “I went into Stormont. Some say I made an impact and then when Mike Nesbitt announced just after Christmas [2025] that he intended to stand down, many, many members of the party approached me and said they wanted me.”
Burrows was subsequently elected unopposed as UUP leader after initial favourite Robbie Butler MLA ruled himself out. Butler has since refused to comment on whether he supports Burrows’ leadership.
“I have no hostility towards anyone in society, other than those who are criminals and those who are preying on the vulnerable in society.”
Ideology
Explaining his ideology, Burrows says that he believes “the State generally should not encroach in people’s lives unnecessarily”.
“I would be someone who has a real streak of libertarianism, of individualism, but I think the State has a responsibility for the big things and it should do them well [such as] security, welfare for those who need it, infrastructure, and law and order.”
When asked if he and his party are liberal, Burrows equivocates saying “I believe in individual liberty”, adding “but nowadays that could mean anything”.
When asked what he means by this, the UUP leader says that he is “socially compassionate” stating that he has “family and friends from an LGB background orientation”. However, he adds: “I think the whole social liberalism thing has lost the run of itself and actually the trans thing became an example.”
Continuing his response to this question, the UUP leader says that “no-one who is trans should be bullied, discriminated, or harassed” but that it is “not fair” that a “trans man [sic] can compete against sport [sic] against females”.
He explains his thinking: “It is entirely wrong because that is not fair, that is not safe.” Burrows also says that he is opposed to “the situation where a man who commits sexual assault can designate as a woman and then they are saying they deserve to be put in a female prison”.
In Northern Ireland, there have been no public cases of trans female prisoners being incarcerated in a female prison, although the data is limited.
Nevertheless, Burrows insists that he answers questions on trans rights “with great trepidation”, but insists: “I have no hostility towards anyone in society, other than those who are criminals and those who are preying on the vulnerable in society.”
Burrows is then quizzed on his views on other social policies. When asked if he believes same-sex marriage should be legal, Burrows asks:
“Keep me right for a second, is it legal?”
He then says that he has “evolved to a position where I think the law is settled and that we should respect it”. He explains that, for him, same-sex marriage is a “settled issue” and “I have no wish to change that”. “What I really believe is this. Whatever our views on different things. I think stable relationships are really, really important.
“I think they are important for the fabric of society. I think they are desirable for upbringing of children, and the more we can promote stable relationships, the better, but I am actually somewhat relieved that it is an issue that seems to have moved on in Northern Ireland.”
When asked about his views on the legalisation of abortion, Burrows says: “I will just answer you this slightly differently. When I grew up, young girls who found themselves pregnant were often ill-treated and stigmatised. They were shamed, and I think that was deeply wrong.
“The law in Northern Ireland is what it is, and it is not going to change in the foreseeable future. I understand this is a really sensitive, challenging, personal issue. I do not believe and do not support, for example, the decriminalisation of abortion right up to birth, which has just happened in England and Wales.
“I find that very disturbing that you can say that one day before birth, a child has effectively no legal protection, but the day after birth, it is full legal protection.”
In June 2025, the UK Parliament passed legislation to stop women in England and Wales being prosecuted for ending their pregnancy after the legal limit of 24 weeks. However, the 24-week legal limit remains and the law will still penalise anyone who assists a woman, including medical professionals, in getting an abortion outside the current legal framework.
‘Evangelise for the union’
Upon his ascension to party leadership, Burrows stated that his goal was for the UUP to become the main unionist party again. When asked if he believes this is realistic, Burrows says: “Northern Ireland and the union have not been well served in the last 20 years. I asked people who are unionists: ‘Do you think the union is stronger than it was 20 years ago? Is unionist morale higher? Is unionist representation higher?’ They say no.
“So I think there is an alternative there. But also what I am offering is a complete change in all our politics, completely refreshed view, common sense, integrity, competence, wanting to deal with the real issues people face, and not the endless culture wars and focus on international affairs that dominate this place.”
In this context, Burrows says: “The Ulster Unionist Party is probably the key answer.
“The Ulster Unionist Party were the unionist party that led bringing us peace. I now want to bring prosperity. That is the next phase, to improve our public services, to grow our economy, and make this somewhere that has prosperity that makes the best place to live in the world.
“I believe you have to evangelise for the union. If you are a unionist, you have got to make the case for the union. You have got to be persuaded for the union.”
On the Labour government in Britain, however, Burrows is not supportive: “I do not trust any particular government of the day. So my union, my loyalty, is to the United Kingdom and the union, not to the government of the day. I think there have been great mistakes made by putting too much trust and reliance on the UK Government. There will be people in the current Labour government who are pro union. There will be those who are pro-united Ireland.”
When asked who in the Labour government he believes supports a united Ireland, Burrows responds with the following: “I think I recently heard a question asked by Labour backbencher with this. But I mean, traditionally in the Labour Party there has been a significant… Certainly on the left, on the left of the Labour Party.”
Burrows clarifies that he does not believe that the Labour government is pro-union, and he asserts that unionism’s task to preserve Northern Ireland’s place in the United Kingdom is to “make our case not just as to why Northern Ireland is better off in the UK, but why the UK is better off for having Northern Ireland”.
United Ireland debate
Burrows warns against falling into the ‘trap’ of unionists taking part in debates on a united Ireland. However, he says that some engagement is of use: “My other unionist leaders are confusing two things. They are confusing the entering into a debate about what a new Ireland would look like with the completely separate issue, which is promoting the case for the union.”
Explaining his opposition to a united Ireland, Burrows asserts: “Britain and Ireland, and within the island of Ireland, we have been at war for years in different ways. Relationships have been bad. There has been terrorism. We are at our most peaceful we have ever been under the current arrangements.”
The UUP leader then claims that a united Ireland would be a threat to the peace process. “I describe a united Ireland as a leap into the dark… We have the most peaceful situation we have been in for generations. You are then leaping into a dark and not knowing exactly what is there.
“It is like leaping off a cliff and saying: ‘Well, actually, the cliff is solid and we are safe. We are going to take a leap. There might be something good on the other side, but there could be something catastrophic’. We do not know and why risk it?”
2027 Assembly election
Looking ahead to the 2027 Assembly election, Burrows ponders which seats he believes his party can acquire. The UUP leader cites several constituencies which could produce potential gains: East Antrim, Belfast South and Mid Down, Foyle, and East Londonderry.
Burrows refuses to be drawn on whether he will continue the UUP’s long-term efforts to recruit East Londonderry independent MLA Claire Sugden. Instead, he concludes: “We need to increase our votes, increase our representation, and actually promote Northern Ireland. This is a great place with great people and it can have a great future, but it needs better politicians.”
