He said Burrows had “huge support” within the UUP but there has been “a lack of communication”.
“Jon Burrows is an incredibly good communicator to the public through the media, but what I notice and what seems to be the case is he doesn’t really communicate well with his MLA group,” he added.
“When his MLA group don’t even know that Mike has resigned and they find out through the media, then there is something seriously wrong about how they are being treated.”
Beattie denied there was “animosity” between MLAs and Burrows but he described issues over some policies being “changed radically on the hoof”.
“I really think by listening to the words that Jon said undermined Mike, undermined Mike’s position as the health minister, and Mike had no other choice in many ways on reflection,” he added.
Speaking before the appointment of Butler, Beattie also said a new health minister would be unable to “affect any change whatsoever” in the months before next year’s Stormont assembly elections.
“If they do anything that’s of any worth it’s probably doing what Mike had already started,” he added.
Analysis – New minister faces enormous challenges:
Until now, Butler has probably been best known by some for twice considering running for the leadership of his party, only to withdraw from it at the last minute.
His name was being flouted as a possible successor as soon as Nesbitt resigned on Tuesday night, and on this occasion he has chosen to take up the call.
As a former firefighter-turned-politician he may have experience in putting out fires, but doing so in one of the most difficult Stormont departments will be new territory for him.
While he’s been an MLA since 2016, he has never held a ministerial job before.
As an effective caretaker minister in the seven months left of the assembly term before the next election, he will have to quickly get to grips with a massive in-tray.
He will also face questions about how he intends to manage relations with the party leader Burrows, given the events of this week.
One Ulster Unionist source said while the job was only for a matter of months, other parties could “set a target on his back” and make life difficult for him.
His decision to step into the job may help further boost his Lagan Valley profile in the run-up to next May’s assembly poll, which is shaping up to be an interesting constituency battle.
But being health minister is hard enough when you have experience of the brief and a budget to work with.
Butler at the moment has neither of those.
