Sir Chris Bryant outlines 'checklist' of issues as he takes up NI secretary role

Northern Ireland's newly-appointed secretary of state has said he has "a bit of a checklist" of issues he wants to address as he takes on the role.

Sir Chris Bryant was appointed to the job following Prime Minister Andy Burnham's Cabinet reshuffle on Monday.

Sir Chris, the MP for Rhondda and Ogmore, replaced Hilary Benn, and said his appointment came as a quite a shock, describing the role as "daunting".

His predecessor said he wished Sir Chris "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".

Sir Chris told BBC News NI that his new role demanded "such phenomenal responsibility".

He said his checklist includes "economic opportunity" for young people, a functioning executive, Troubles' legacy legislation and public services.

However, he said a border poll on Irish unity was "not on my list of priorities at the moment".

"I just want to get this legacy legislation through parliament in the way that works for everybody. I want to make sure we have the executive fully functioning.

"We need to make sure every young person in Northern Ireland sees an economic opportunity for themselves in Northern Ireland and for their family," he added.

He said he had visited Northern Ireland numerous times, often for concerts and theatre, and feels the creative industry was "ready for a real boost".

The Northern Ireland role is Sir Chris's first cabinet position, although he held a number of shadow front bench roles under Sir Keir Starmer and Jeremy Corbyn.

In terms of funding for Northern Ireland, Sir Chris said "money is tight" but that it was his "job to fight for Northern Ireland" claiming that he will "do that with every sinew" of his body.

However, he was positive about Northern Ireland's current economic position.

"You've got the best of both worlds being in the single market and in the United Kingdom. We need to exploit all these economic opportunities. Let's lift our eyes to much bigger horizons about economic prosperity."

Earlier, Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Gavin Robinson told the BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme that Sir Chris was in a position "to seize discussions around financial stabilities and around providing a budget and around doing some of the structural changes that Hilary has done the spade work for".

"We don't want to be in a position where we have to start from scratch again," Robinson added.

Robinson added that he had been "disappointed continually by Labour politicians, secretaries of state and prime ministers who talk warmly and richly about reset relations with the EU, but seem to have their eye off the ball about some of the significant issues we have for Northern Ireland".

"This reshuffle has been quite significant, the impact of it I think will reverberate for months and months to come," Robinson said.

Sinn Féin MLA Pat Sheehan said personalities were "irrelevant" regarding the appointment of the new secretary of state and that policy needed to change.

"The name plates may change around the British cabinet table," he said.

"What's important for us is that policy changes and particularly in regard to the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement, specifically in terms of preparing for a referendum on Irish unity," he said.

Social Democratic and Labour Party leader (SDLP) Claire Hanna MP, who had a meeting with Sir Chris on Tuesday, said there were two "immediate priorities" for the new secretary of state.

"The first is ensuring the executive agrees a budget before the 1 August deadline," she said.

Hanna said the second priority was the "urgent need for institutional reform and calling time on the decay and dysfunctional politics that have held Northern Ireland back for far too long".

TUV MLA Timothy Gaston told the Nolan Show that Sir Chris must be a "secretary of state that is willing to repair the damage done by the Irish sea border".

"What we have seen in the past, over the last number of months is that he is unsympathetic to doing anything about that."

Gaston cited Sir Chris's previous role as minster for trade, when new steel tariffs were introduced earlier this month.

Shaun Woodward, a former Labour MP who served as Northern Ireland secretary in 2009-10, said he has known Sir Chris for more than 25 years.

"He is the kind of secretary of state Northern Ireland needs, I think it is a very astute appointment by the prime minister," he said.

Speaking to BBC Radio Foyle's North West Today programme, Woodward said Bryant "is a very fair minded person", adding he is a "fast learner, a very smart guy".

A promise Labour had made in its election manifesto was to repeal and replace the controversial Troubles legacy act.

Passed under Rishi Sunak's government, parts of it including conditional immunity were deemed unlawful by the courts, while victims and political parties in Northern Ireland had no confidence in it.

The legislation is still sitting in the Commons, with no sight of the government's amendments on proposed protections for veterans or how it will command confidence of victims and survivors.

Sir Chris said: "I want to make sure this is legislation that really, really works."

The NI veterans commissioner, David Johnstone, told the Nolan Show Sir Chris must "fundamentally review" the legacy act.

"Those who followed lawful orders should not be dragged endlessly through prosecutions, court cases and coroners inquests."

Sir Chris joined the Labour party in 1986 and has served as MP in the Welsh constituency of Rhondda and Ogmore since 2001.

During Gordon Brown's tenure he served as deputy leader of the Commons.

He takes up his new post having moved from the Department for Business and Trade.

Sir Chris is a literature-loving Labour Party veteran who regularly quotes Shakespeare in TV and radio interviews.

He has written 10 books including a two-volume history of parliament.

The Welsh MP is also a former Anglican priest but quit the church in 1991 over its stance on homosexuality.

He and long-term partner Jarred Cranney were the first couple to enter a civil partnership in the Palace of Westminster in 2010.

In 2023 he was awarded a knighthood in recognition of his campaigning work around acquired brain injury and melanoma - a type of skin cancer.