Northern Ireland Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris has announced he will not stand in the next general election.
Heaton-Harris, who has held the role since September 2022, made his intentions known in a letter to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
He posted a message on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Saturday evening to his 36,000 followers, announcing his decision.
He wrote: “It has been an honor and privilege to serve and I would like to thank the good people of Daventry, @theresa_may @borisjohnson @trussliz @RishiSunak for placing their trust in me.
“I started as an activist and will be campaigning for the @Conservatives in the next election because we are the only party that has succeeded and can deliver results for the whole of the UK.”
Northern Ireland Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris has announced he will not stand in the next general election.
Heaton-Harris then released the full letter he presented to Rishi Sunak earlier on Saturday.
Looking back on his 24-year political career, he wrote: “Working with you, I helped negotiate and implement the Windsor Framework, which resolved many of the major practical problems created by the Protocol of Northern Ireland, set up as we left the UK. the EU and helped reset our countries’ relations with our European neighbors.
“Then, after long and detailed negotiations in Northern Ireland, we produced the Saving the Union command document, which resulted in the return of Stormont and a devolved government to serve the people of Northern Ireland.”
“I firmly believe that the conditions are now right for Northern Ireland to prosper, with preferred access for manufactured goods to the EU single market, whilst being an integral part of our UK internal market and being in able to benefit from the international trade agreements that we negotiate.”
He added: “It (Northern Ireland) is in a remarkably favorable position – and as Northern Ireland prospers, our union will grow stronger.”
The veteran politician went on to thank those he has worked with, as well as his constituents, “who have continually trusted me and have, without fail, been well ahead of the Westminster bubble in determining what issues are actually important.”
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Heaton-Harris posted a message on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Saturday evening to her 36,000 followers, announcing her decision.
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