IN A SURPRISE move on Monday, the UK’s Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Hilary Benn announced he would be leaving his role after two years during a Cabinet reshuffle under new prime minister Andy Burnham.

He has been replaced by MP Chris Bryant.

In a statement, Benn said it has been a “great privilege” to serve in his role and to work with those he has met over the past two years.

“I wish my successor all the very best in working with my Executive to protect stability, continuing to generate growth and investment and in taking forward the Troubles Bill which is so important for so many families.”

He added that Burnham will have his support from the backbenches.

Foreign Affairs Minister Helen McEntee was among those who paid tribute to Benn’s time in the role. 

“He approached his role with purpose and understanding, and with a clear wish to make things better for all the people of Northern Ireland,” she said in a statement.

She credited Benn’s approach with enabling the UK-Ireland agreement on the Joint Framework on the Legacy of the Troubles, which was agreed in September and replaced the controversial 2023 UK Legacy Act.

Among other actions in the framework, it lifts the prohibition on civil cases and restores inquests halted by the UK Act.

McEntee wished Benn well and said she knows he will “continue to contribute to building a positive relationship across these islands”.

Who is his replacement, Chris Bryant?

Chris Bryant interacts with 'Larry the Cat'. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Chris Bryant has been an MP since 2001, but this is his first Cabinet role.

The 64-year-old Welshman is an MP for the constituency of Rhondda and Ogmore. He has served in five ministerial roles, having most recently been appointed Minister of State at the Department for Business and Trade in September.

He held a number of shadow ministerial roles while in opposition, and was shadow secretary for culture in 2015.

From 2008 to 2009, Bryant was the deputy leader of the House of Commons.

As a child, he grew up in Spain with an alcoholic mother before moving back to the UK.

Bryant has spoken publicly about his sexual abuse as a teenager by the former head of the UK’s National Theatre Michael Croft. As an ordained minister, he went on to conduct Croft’s funeral.

He also revealed that he was sexually abused by five male MPs during his time in Westminster.

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Before entering national politics, he was ordained as a deacon in the Church of England in 1986 after studying theology in Buenos Aires and at Ripon College, Oxford.

Ultimately, he left the priesthood in 1991 to work as an election agent in the former Holborn and St Pancras constituency in London for the Labour Party.

From there, he entered local politics. He spent 1993 to 1998 as a councillor on the Hackney Borough Council in London.

In 1998, he made another career U-turn and joined the BBC as Head of European Affairs, based in Brussels.

In 2001, it was back to politics.

Bryant and his husband Jared Cranney were the first same-sex couple to hold a partnership ceremony in the Palace of Westminster in 2010. 

He was knighted in 2023 in recognition of his charitable contributions and campaign work for brain injury survivors and melanoma awareness.