Brandon Lewis in Belfast following Sinn Féin victory

Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis is visiting Belfast to hold talks with the region’s political leaders following last week’s assembly elections.

Sinn Féin leader Michelle O’Neill, DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, Alliance leader Naomi Long, UUP leader Doug Beattie, and SDLP leader Colum Eastwood are all set to be present at the talks.

In Thursday’s Northern Ireland Assembly elections, Irish nationalist party Sinn Féin became the largest party for the first time in its history, with the Democratic Unionist Party coming runners up.
The DUP say they will refuse to nominate a deputy first minister unless the Northern Ireland Protocol is scrapped.

Lewis in a statement yesterday evening: “I encourage the parties to form an Executive as soon as possible. The people of Northern Ireland deserve a stable and accountable local government that delivers on the issues that matter most to them.

“The electorate delivered a number of messages on Thursday. They were clear that they want a fully functioning devolved government in Northern Ireland, they want the issues around the Protocol addressed, and that they want politics to work better,” he went on.