Hilary Benn Sacked in Cabinet Shake-Up as Chris Bryant Takes Over
Hilary Benn has been sacked as Northern Ireland secretary after Andy Burnham’s Cabinet reshuffle. Sir Chris Bryant takes over with talks on a multi-year budget…
LONDON — Hilary Benn has been sacked as secretary of state for Northern Ireland after Andy Burnham’s Cabinet reshuffle, and Sir Chris Bryant has taken over the post. The move comes as the new minister inherits stalled talks with Stormont parties and Treasury officials over a multi-year budget.
Benn, who was appointed in 2024, said on X that it had been a “great privilege” to serve in the role and to “work with the many wonderful people I have met over the last two years”.
The change matters far beyond Westminster. The Northern Ireland office sits at the centre of efforts to protect stability, keep investment moving and push forward the Troubles Bill, all while ministers try to break months of deadlock over funding.
Chris Bryant takes over
On Monday night, the government announced that Sir Chris Bryant would become the new Northern Ireland secretary. Bryant has been the MP for Rhondda and Ogmore since 2001 and most recently served as a trade minister under Starmer’s government.
He is also a former Anglican priest and previously served as deputy leader of the Commons during Gordon Brown’s time as prime minister. Now he steps into one of the most politically sensitive jobs in the UK government.
Benn did not sound bitter as he left the post. He said he wished his successor “all the very best in working with the executive to protect stability, continuing to generate growth and investment and in taking forward the Troubles Bill”. He also pledged to support Burnham from the back benches.
That handover arrives at a delicate moment. Benn had only just started talks with the Stormont parties and Treasury officials in a bid to agree a multi-year budget after months of stalemate, and his successor will now have to finish the process.
The timing is awkward. Very awkward.
Why the shuffle matters
For Northern Ireland, the job is not ceremonial. The secretary of state has to manage relations with the executive, keep pressure on ministers in London and help prevent old disputes over funding from dragging the institutions back into crisis.
When Benn arrived in Belfast a day after the 2024 general election results, he went first to St George’s Market. Traders greeted him warmly and gave him a piece of artwork showing colourful carrots, a small welcome that seemed to hint at hopes for a better tone after 14 years of Conservative governments.
That optimism did not last long. Old arguments over funding for the executive soon resurfaced, and the months that followed were shaped by the same hard questions about money, stability and how the devolved government should move forward.
Sir Chris now walks into that same file. The budget talks are unfinished, the Troubles Bill is still on the table, and the executive needs a minister who can hold the line long enough to get decisions made.
Burnham’s reshuffle has already redrawn the political map at the top of government. For Northern Ireland, the immediate question is whether the new secretary can do what his predecessor was still trying to do: finish the budget process and keep the machinery of government moving.
The answer will start to emerge in the talks he now inherits.
And those talks are already well behind schedule.
