Daventry MP Chris Heaton-Harris 'honoured' to carry on as Northern Ireland secretary under new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak - despite backing Boris Johnson as best man for the job

Daventry MP Chris Heaton-Harris says he is “honoured” to carry on as Northern Ireland secretary after being reappointed by new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Confirmation that Mr Heaton-Harris had kept his cabinet job came after a chaotic few days during which he faced flak from fellow Tories for leading Boris Johnson’s bid to reclaim the Conservative party leadership, then confirmed he was backing Mr Sunak two hours before nominations closed when the former PM pulled out.

He tweeted on Tuesday night (October 25): “I’m honoured to be re-appointed as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

“I’m pleased that I will be able to continue working to ensure that we deliver on the priorities for the people of Northern Ireland.”

Mr Heaton-Harris publicly backed the former PM to succeed Liz Truss, who announced her resignation on Thursday, tweeting: “We need a leader with a proven track record of delivery, the resilience to lead our country, a mandate from the British people and the ability to defeat Keir Starmer.”

West Northamptonshire councillors were quick to point out that Mr Heaton-Harris was widely reported to have been among a group of Tory MPs who told Johnson he go less than four months ago.

Fellow Tory James Hill tweeted: “How anyone can think Boris Johnson can unite the party is beyond me?

“If we really do bring Boris back we face a decade out of power in my opinion. Incredible and sad it’s come to this.

“We need to look forward, not back and put the mess of the last year behind us.”

Mr Heaton-Harris quickly joined a number of fellow cabinet ministers calling for Mr Johnson to get his old job back after Ms Truss confirmed her exit.

Writing in the Daily Mail, he said: “There is no politician more able to rise up to whatever challenge he faces.”

On Monday, however, he posted a new tweet: “Now is the time to put our political differences aside and come together to tackle the issues facing our country.

“I am going to play my part in doing that by backing Rishi Sunak.”

Mr Heaton-Harris said his role as party Chief Whip meant he stayed neutral during the leadership contest which saw Ms Truss elected.

He was moved to Northern Ireland in the new PM’s first cabinet, a post which carries a £67,000-a-year salary on top of his £82,000 MP’s wages.

Another West Northamptonshire Tory, council deputy leader Adam Brown, also weighed in on the #BringBackBoris debate after Nadim Zahawi backed Mr Johnson.

The Daventry councillor reposted tweets by the former Chancellor saying Mr Johnson “must do the right thing and go” in July alongside a current message saying “Britain needs him back” — adding his own message: “What a clown”.

Reacting to Mr Johnson’s withdrawal on Sunday night, Cllr Brown tweeted: “I honestly don’t know what I would have done if he’d returned.”