Karen Bradley has announced that she has left her position as the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and will return to the backbenches.
The MP for Staffordshire Moorlands will now concentrate on her constituency work, but has been trying hard lately to get the Northern Ireland government up and running again, with little progress seemingly being made over the past few months.
Now with the new PM Boris Johnson officially in office and his first point of business to form a government, it’s not surprising that Ms Bradleys position was under threat.
Her lack of progress with the N.I. parties and the Brexit deadline on the horizon in under 100 days, the Northern Ireland backstop still continues to be a major issue issue in the Brexit negoitions and most likely a factor in this announcement.
A statement issued after the announcement by Ms Bradley read,
“It has been an enormous privilege to serve as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and represent this special nation and integral part of our precious union.
“I would like to pay tribute to Theresa May for her continued support and commitment to ensuring the unique needs of Northern Ireland were met and respected in full.
“I would also like to thank the whole team at the Northern Ireland Office who work tirelessly to deliver for the people of Northern Ireland.”
She said she was proud of the achievements over the past 18 months, and said: “I personally regret that I will not conclude the current talks process but I am honoured to have led the process over the past 12 weeks.
“The political parties in Northern Ireland have made important progress and shown a new determination to overcome their differences and reach an agreement.
“I now pass this tremendous responsibility over to my successor with every best wish and my full support to conclude the process.”
