Shailesh Vara has been appointed Secretary of Northern Ireland following the resignation of Brandon Lewis.
The former NIO minister was announced amid chaos in Downing Street as the number of resignations mounted in protest against Boris Johnson’s government.
Mr Johnson will remain as Prime Minister until there is a successor, expected by the time of the Conservative Party conference in October.
This is despite critics suggesting he may not remain in office until the fall.
Lewis announced his resignation early Thursday, tweeting a copy of his letter of resignation telling the prime minister that he had “given you and those around you the benefit of the doubt”.
“But we are now past the point of no return.
“I cannot sacrifice my personal integrity to defend things as they stand. It is clear that our party, parliamentary colleagues, volunteers and the whole country deserve better,” he said.
NIO minister Conor Burns said he will remain in office and tweeted that he will lead the government at a meeting of the British-Irish Council.
“It is vital at this time that @NIOgov’s work is done.
“I am determined to continue to serve the wonderful people of Northern Ireland to the best of my ability during this difficult time,” he said.
Mr Lewis was blasted by Sinn Fein Stormont leader Michelle O’Neill as… “shamefully appease the DUP”.
She claimed he “renounced any semblance of acting with the ‘rigorous impartiality’ required of him under the Good Friday Agreement”.
“He has shamefully propitiated the DUP by giving them political cover by denying voters the democratic representation they are entitled to,” she said.
The Stormont meeting continues to collapse over a row over the Northern Ireland Protocol.
The DUP refuses to nominate ministers to the executive or a speaker to allow the Assembly to function until the UK government takes action on the post-Brexit arrangements.
Meanwhile, SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said Mr Johnson “has downgraded the office he holds”.
“He has fundamentally and indelibly damaged public confidence in politics and public life, and his deadly grip on power has extended a term of office that will be marked by law-breaking, scandal and sloppiness.
“He should leave the government right now,” he said
Ms O’Neill also criticized Mr Lewis over his bill to tackle Northern Ireland’s troubled past.
The Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill provides effective amnesty for Troubles crimes for those who work with an information agency.
She added: “He has undermined the Good Friday Agreement and political stability, and his actions have been a daily reminder to us why those who have no mandate or vote here will act only in their own political interests, not in ours.
“The political stability of the north must not be held hostage to the Tory-in-fighting, the chaos in Westminster and the ongoing DUP disruption.”
Alliance MP Stephen Farry described a “completely crazy situation” and said Mr Johnson was a “narcissistic selfish fool”.
“The fact that it has even gotten to this point is devastating in itself,” he said, also questioning the DUP’s silence on Mr Johnson.
Prominent victims’ campaigner Raymond McCord welcomed Mr Lewis’s resignation.
REBADING McCORD’S CORRECTIVE SPELL Raymond McCord is interviewed in Parliament Square, Westminster, as the victims of The Troubles and their families gather to meet with MPs and colleagues from across the UK, and step up their campaign against a proposed statute of restrictions on future prosecution for crimes committed during the conflict. Date photo: Tuesday, October 19, 2021.
Mr McCord said: “He (Mr Lewis) has betrayed the victims of the Troubles with the Legacy Bill which grants amnesty to murderers.
“Brandon Lewis decided to reward the killers with amnesty for the murders they committed, and punish the victims and their families by ensuring that all avenues to justice and even civil cases are closed.
“He insulted all the victims by claiming it would help us.
“He will certainly not be missed by victims.”