Theresa Villiers eager to retain post of Northern Secretary

Northern Secretary Theresa Villiers, who has said she would be delighted to stay on in the Stormont job, is expected to learn her fate on Monday as British prime minister David Cameron continues to fill his Conservative majority cabinet.

Questioned on Sunday about her chances of staying in the cabinet as Northern Secretary, a relaxed Ms Villiers said: “It is a fascinating job. I think it has gone well. I would be happy to do it, or any other role.”

Mr Cameron has already filled five of the biggest cabinet jobs since his election victory but many other positions are expected to be filled on Monday. They are set to include a significant number of new women. Despite winning a majority, Mr Cameron will be keen to bring the Democratic Unionist Party onside, though the negotiating hand held by DUP leader Peter Robinson will be weaker than it looked just days ago.

The two newly elected Ulster Unionist MPs, Danny Kinahan and Tom Elliott, are not expected to take the Conservative Commons whip, leaving open the possibility of a pan-unionist attempt to secure better terms for Northern Ireland.

However, the DUP believes Mr Cameron is unlikely to concede on welfare reforms: "[He] has taken so many hits on welfare reform that it is unlikely he would back down now that he has an overall majority," one party source told The Irish Times.

Build relations

Labour hopes it can build relations with the DUP and all Northern Ireland parties over Conservative plans to change constituency boundaries, which the Conservatives believe will give them a chance of winning 20 more seats in 2020.

However, Northern Irish interest, crucial from Labour’s point of view, is reduced because Mr Cameron does not intend to cut the number of MPs from 650 to 600, as he had planned to do in the last parliament.

Meanwhile, London will shortly launch a diplomatic offensive with fellow EU states about its demands for concessions it can put to the British people in an in-out referendum in 2017, if not before.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny is keen for early discussions with Mr Cameron, though a meeting is not likely until they meet on the margins at the EU summit in June. Mr Cameron is to send chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne and foreign secretary Philip Hammond to Berlin and Paris in a bid to win support from the EU's heavyweight nations.

A deal quickly reached that does not require EU treaty change could have attractions for both countries before French presidential elections in April 2017 and German federal elections a few months later.