He was the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) from 2010 to 2012,[1] and was a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Fermanagh and South Tyrone from 2022 until 2024, having previously served from 2003 to 2015.

It emerged shortly before the leadership election that a quarter of the UUP membership came from Fermanagh and South Tyrone, a disproportionately high figure.

[6] The Phoenix, an Irish political magazine, described Elliott as a "blast from the past" and that his election signified "a significant shift to the right" by the UUP.

[citation needed] The political editor of BBC Northern Ireland assessed that Elliott "slipped on a number of banana skins, most of his own making" and that "his charm did not transmit well over the airwaves.

[11] When asked about his reasoning for standing down, he said that "some people have not given [him] a fair opportunity at developing and progressing many initiatives", going on to say that some of the hostility began immediately after he was selected as leader.

He successfully won back the seat for the party, defeating the incumbent MP, Michelle Gildernew of Sinn Féin, with 46.4 per cent of votes cast and a majority of 530.

"[20] In August 2023, Elliott met with Dame Brenda King, Attorney General for Northern Ireland, to express concerns at the perceived imbalance in Troubles legacy cases being directed for inquests.

[30][31] Although initially refusing to retract his comment[32] he later issued an apology "to all those good nationalists, republicans, even Sinn Fein voters who felt offended by it.

"[33] In August 2012, Elliott opposed money being spent on public inquests into people killed by the British Army and loyalist paramilitaries during the Troubles.

The judge in the case said he received a letter from a "senior politician" that spoke "glowingly" of the convicted man's work in the voluntary sector.

Elliott settled a defamation case with Attorney General John Larkin by issuing a statement through his barrister and donating an undisclosed sum of money to charity.

[39] Under the terms of the settlement the following statement was read out by Elliott's senior counsel:"On 20 April 2016, during the course of a live debate on the Stephen Nolan BBC Radio Ulster show, Mr Elliott made a number of statements which may have been taken to imply that the attorney general, John Larkin, had failed to discharge his professional duties impartially and with fairness.