Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris will learn on Tuesday if he will remain in the position following the elevation of Rishi Sunak to the post of Prime Minister.
Mr Heaton-Harris, the third to hold the post this year after his appointment at the start of September, came out in support of Boris Johnson before declaring for Mr Sunak after the former Prime Minister ruled himself out of the race.
“He’s a great man,” the Secretary of State said of Mr Johnson after he pulled out of the contest “in the country’s interests”.
In a Twitter post early yesterday, Mr Heaton-Harris said: “Now is the time to put our political differences aside and come together to tackle the issues facing our country. I am going to play my part in doing that by backing Rishi Sunak.”
Political analysts in London believe any cabinet reshuffle by the new prime minister will not involve wholesale changes as he strives for some stability.
It is predicted Mr Sunak will try and unite the different factions within the party, including the hardline Eurosceptic European Research Group, which has included Mr Heaton-Harris and Minister of State Steve Baker.
Mr Baker yesterday publicly expressed his hope he and the Secretary of State will remain in their positions ahead of the election deadline later this week and the possibility of a fresh Assembly election.
At the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly meeting in Co Cavan, Mr Baker said he and his NIO colleague “enjoy working together and are looking to keep it that way”.
Mr Baker supported Mr Sunak, stating over the weekend the return of Mr Johnson would be a "guaranteed nailed-on failure and we cannot allow it to happen”.
The Minister of State also said he had no doubt the new Prime Minister will “follow through on the current policy” relating to the NI Protocol.
