He spoke to the community via livestream as he was getting well from COVID-19.

Nesbitt is in his second term as leader; he held the position from 2012 until his resignation in 2017 due to unsatisfactory performance in the assembly election.

He is now the first person in the UUP to have held the position twice.

This time, he took over as leader from Doug Beattie, who resigned last month due to "irreconcilable differences" with party officials.

Nesbitt will persist in his role as the party's health minister in the Stormont administration.

Party delegates convened on Saturday to officially recognise Nesbitt as leader, and that afternoon, he gave his first significant speech.

Nesbitt was the only person to indicate interest when nominations for the leadership opened following the abrupt resignation of Beattie in August.

He has expressed a desire for the UUP to keep up its "progressive and inclusive outreach" in the past.