London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Oct 08, 2025

Shailesh Vara: Who is the new Northern Ireland secretary?

Shailesh Vara: Who is the new Northern Ireland secretary?

Shailesh Vara was a little known Northern Ireland Office minister in 2018 until he delivered the first blow against Theresa May's Brexit plan.

He resigned after just five months in the job.

He said the proposed deal would leave the UK in a "half-way house" with the EU still obeying its custom rules.

The MP for North West Cambridgeshire also warned that Northern Ireland would be subject to a "different relationship with the EU from the rest of the UK".

He added that the "constitutional integrity of the UK must be respected".

Almost four years on, he will now be the man steering the government's controversial protocol bill through the House of Commons over the next fortnight.

If he is given the job of secretary of state full time when the next Conservative leader comes along, he will oversee its passage into law.


Brexit credentials


As a hard-line Brexiteer, his appointment will please the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and other unionists hoping to see the protocol changed.

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson welcomed his appointment and said he will bring a new "energy" to the post.

But Mr Vara's Brexit credentials will not rest easy with the other Stormont parties.

After a phone call on Thursday with Sinn Féin vice-president Michelle O'Neill, she said he had a "duty to respect and not obstruct the assembly election outcome" which returned Sinn Féin as the largest party.

But because of the DUP's refusal to form a power-sharing executive in protest at the Northern Ireland Protocol, Ms O'Neill has been unable to take up the position as first minister.

Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) leader Colum Eastwood was more pointed in his response to the new appointment.

He said his party "hadn't been impressed" with Mr Vara's grasp of Northern Ireland issues and they do not expect him to be here "too long".


Abortion services


While he may be a caretaker secretary of state, Mr Vara will have some big decisions to consider.

His predecessor Mr Lewis had promised to bypass the health minister and his department to commission abortion services in Northern Ireland.

He assumed the power at Westminster to act as the government had a legal obligation to provide the services.

Brandon Lewis promised to act "relatively soon" and that will now fall to the new secretary.

It is not clear what decision's Mr Vara will make about promises made by outgoing NI secretary Brandon Lewis around abortion services


But it is not clear if Mr Vara supported the extension of the powers as he abstained in the vote at Westminster.

Another pledge by his predecessor will present a greater challenge.

Mr Lewis vowed to cut Northern Ireland Assembly members' salaries if the DUP continued to block the election of a Stormont speaker and the return of the assembly.

That threat has so far had little impact but it remains an option for the new secretary.

So Mr Vara has some big calls he could make if he wants to avoid being labelled the little known secretary of state by the time he leaves.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×