Doug Beattie teaming up with other unionist leaders in a joint declaration against Brexit's Northern Ireland Protocol always seemed like an odd decision.
The photocall at Stormont last September was transparently a desperate effort by the DUP to stave off a split in the unionist vote by bringing rivals closer to its orbit.
Mr Beattie sharing a platform with the DUP, TUV and PUP was hardly going to help present the Ulster Unionist Party as having a clear, distinct vision on dealing with the Irish Sea trade border.
However, it was clear from the beginning this showing of unionist unity was only publicity stunt deep.
Any remaining semblance of a shared approach imploded last weekend with the Ulster Unionists pulling out of future anti-Protocol rallies.
Although the UUP always had a semi-detached participation, it was still a bold move by Mr Beattie in the mouth of an election.
The Upper Bann representative even admitted the decision could cost his party votes in the Assembly poll in under five weeks’ time.
But the UUP's involvement was becoming untenable. Mr Beattie said the rallies have been increasingly used to express opposition to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.
"I'm a party leader of a party who believes that the Belfast Agreement is what has given us peace and what will help us get through this crisis in the long term," he said.
The final straw came after the bomb hoax last week at an event in North Belfast attended by Irish government minister Simon Coveney. The incident, in which a van driver was hijacked at gunpoint, has been blamed on the UVF.
The Ulster Unionists questioned why reportedly no speaker at an anti-Protocol rally in Ballymoney later that day had condemned the security alert.
Mr Beattie later claimed the events were being used to whip up tensions, and said he believed some rallies have been attended by loyalist paramilitaries.
Other prominent unionists including DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson have defended the rallies as "peaceful protest".
However, an overnight attack on Mr Beattie's constituency office in Portadown within hours of his withdrawal announcement only served to justify his concerns.
While Mr Beattie said he was "not doing this for a vote", the decision could be his last best chance to set clear blue water between his party and rival unionist offerings.
The latest LucidTalk poll published on Monday suggests the 'Beattie bounce' after he became Ulster Unionist leader last year may have fallen flat.
On 13%, the party has dropped back to around the same level of support it had at the last Assembly election in 2017. It places the party behind rivals the DUP (19%) and the Alliance Party (16%), while Sinn Féin remains on top (26%).
The Ulster Unionist Party has said it wants "common sense alternatives" to the Protocol and has dismissed the DUP's protest tactics of collapsing the Stormont Executive.
"Blood-and-thunder rhetoric from a lectern will not help nor solve the Protocol problem," Mr Beattie said.
If the UUP seeks to present itself as having a more pragmatic stance, then distancing the party from these rallies makes sense.
Sir Jeffrey has condemned the incidents in North Belfast and Portadown, saying "violence can have no part to play in resolving our political issues in Northern Ireland".
But the UUP's withdrawal could heap pressure on Sir Jeffrey over his attendance at some of these rallies, especially if tensions in the community escalate further.
The problem for the UUP in taking a middling ground on the Protocol somewhere between Alliance and DUP in their pitch to voters is that it could end up dissatisfying everyone.
Mr Beattie put a positive spin on the striking backdrop of HMS Caroline at Belfast docks for the UUP manifesto launch this week.
But be prepared for a raft of metaphors on sinking ships and rearranging the deck chairs if it all goes wrong come polling day.
Read more: Brendan Hughes: Don't expect the Stormont Executive to be restored anytime soon
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