We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info

Northern Ireland minister Conor Burns said Ms Truss could harness the power of Government like no one else. The Conservative MP has not formally endorsed a candidate but praised the way she works with ministers and “remorselessly” strives to deliver results.

Mr Burns, who worked under Mr Truss when she was International Trade Secretary, said: “I have to tell you, in my experience Liz was the most democratic, involving, devolving ministerial boss that I have ever worked for. She enjoyed running a team, she enjoyed empowering her ministers to deliver, recognising that individual success is collective success, and I have never seen a minister who when she made her mind up bent the machine to her will more effectively than Liz.

“So, if Liz wins the leadership election and becomes Prime Minister I think we will see a return to full cabinet government with an absolutely forensic, remorseless focus on delivery.”

Describing Ms Truss’s personality, he said: “The thing about Liz is there’s the side of her that often isn’t seen. She’s enormous fun.

“She’s got an incredibly developed sense of humour. She’s incredibly loyal.

“But fundamentally with Liz, what you see is what you get. Liz is authentic, unspun in many ways.

“And those characteristics are ones that the public will find appealing.”

A key challenge for the next PM will be reviving Northern Ireland’s power-sharing Government, with unionists adamant that the post-Brexit Northern Ireland protocol – which is blamed for disrupting trade with Great Britain – must be overhauled.

Mr Burns said he believes Ms Truss feels a “heavy degree of responsibility” about the British and Irish governments’ obligation to protect the Good Friday Agreement which brought power-sharing to Northern Ireland.

He said: “As far as the European Union are concerned, they will have in Liz Truss, if she is Prime Minister, someone who will want to do a deal but will not want to deal at any price; in that time-honoured phrase they will find in Liz Truss someone with whom they can do business if they conclude there is business they wish to do.”

The Belfast-born Bournemouth West MP wants to avoid a return to direct rule in Northern Ireland or the need for fresh elections to the Stormont Assembly. He is also hopeful that the people of Northern Ireland will choose to remain part of the United Kingdom.

“I think a prosperous stable Northern Ireland will enduringly see its place within the United Kingdom,” he said. “I think a confident, embracing, outward-looking pro-union worldview will continue to command not just majority support but overwhelming support.” 

Source: Read Full Article