THOSE who hoped for an A-list Tory to succeed Karen Bradley have been left disappointed. Julian Smith isn't quite a political non-entity but his career to date has been largely unremarkable. He's been to Northern Ireland before, at least once, making an instantly forgettable speech to the DUP conference in 2017. This can be explained in part by the fact that he was chief whip at the time, a role that requires a degree of reticence, however, unscripted blandness isn't part of the job spec.
But perhaps the Remain-voting Skipton and Ripon MP was having an off day, disgruntled at having to spend his weekend pretending to be friends with Ian Paisley and Gregory Campbell. He would know the DUP's MPs well though, having dealt with them on an almost daily basis as chief whip, ensuring the confidence and supply deal worked effectively at Westminster.
We'll get a better measure of new secretary of state's mettle in the coming weeks as he seeks to bridge the credibility gap left in the wake of Karen Bradley's egregious 18 months in the job. She set the bar historically low, so it shouldn't be too difficult for the new incumbent to improve on his predecessor's performance.
Mr Smith's most important task will be to bring some dynamism to the current Stormont talks process, which publicly at least, shows little indication that it's heading towards a successful resolution any time soon. Securing a deal isn't entirely the responsibility of the secretary of state but he must at least be earnest and impartial in his dealings with all parties and not let the reliance on DUP votes at Westminster cloud his judgment. Crucially, he must also ready to engage with the media in a manner which Mrs Bradley was latterly unwilling to do.
In his previous role, circumstances conspired to make his job especially difficult. He wasn't quite tasked with getting turkeys to vote for Christmas but as Tory chief whip under Theresa May, his efforts to get the withdrawal agreement through parliament were always going to be a challenge. After that gruelling experience, perhaps a stint in Northern Ireland, working to get the institutions restored, will be a walk in the park?
