David McCann: What Chris Bryant must do if he is to leave his mark in Northern Ireland

It is all change over at Westminster. Not only is there a new prime minister (the seventh in 10 years, if you have not heard), but we have a new secretary of state. None other than Chris Bryant. This will be our eighth since 2016.

Often, I hear about the role of the Northern Ireland Office and how it is positioned in our local politics.

Whatever your analysis of where things have gone wrong in the past, a considered analysis has to take into account the revolving door of office holders that we have had since the EU referendum.

This is in a department which has arguably become more complex and difficult since 2016, not less. With Brexit, legacy, budgetary crises and two collapses of devolution all moving to the fore over the last tumultuous 10 years in politics.

You have to go all the way back to Patrick Mayhew, who served during the 1990s, to find the last Northern Ireland Secretary who served a full parliamentary term in post.

Most of the office holders since have averaged around just two years before being moved on. We now know that Hilary Benn continues this depressing trend, lasting just a little over two years.

The purpose of this column is not to praise or bury Benn’s time at the Northern Ireland Office. But there should be a recognition that in a portfolio like ours, relationships and building networks of support matter to your ability to make things happen.

The secretary of state needs to work in tandem with a host of complex stakeholders, all of whom have competing and sometimes diametrically opposed demands. All of this takes time.

When he touches down in Belfast, Bryant will be facing a devolved administration that, four months into the financial year, still has not agreed on a budget.

Major infrastructure projects such as Casement Park are still unresolved, and there are continuing issues around legacy. Let’s also throw in a growing demand for reform of the institutions from a majority of the main parties in the Assembly.

This is no small undertaking for a secretary of state who has had little engagement with political life here. Bryant has a reputation in Westminster for straight talking and being direct in political debate. These skills can be useful in the House of Commons but might not help him in the negotiating rooms of Stormont Castle.

As he spends the summer figuring out his own approach to the job, he needs to decide what he ultimately wants to achieve. For his immediate predecessor, it was clear that moving issues around legacy forward was a priority.

For Julian Smith, it was about restoring devolution. For Mo Mowlam, it was achieving the Good Friday Agreement. What does Chris Bryant want people to write about his time in office? Pick a handful of issues and focus on them.

Fortunately for him, there is no shortage of problems requiring the attention of the UK government, and there are a host of areas from Stormont reform to legacy where he could make his mark.

The challenge for him is whether he can get the new prime minister to row in behind him and give him the authority and the attention to make things happen.

If past performance is anything to go by, Bryant does not have long to make his mark. Most of the holders of this office since the turn of the century get three years if they are lucky, with two years being the average. That is not a lot of time for someone who will have to learn our local political dynamics very quickly.

Northern Ireland is not a prized job at Westminster. Few MPs ever campaign to get the role. People here get that. However, of those less prominent cabinet roles, it is one where a conscientious and well-intentioned office holder can make a positive difference.

If Bryant wants to do this, he will have to be prepared to listen and remember that whilst this administration wants to turbocharge change, the wheels of reform always move slowly in Northern Ireland.