James Brokenshire: Northern Ireland Secretary resigns

Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire has resigned from government, the Northern Ireland Office has confirmed.

It is understood he requires surgery for a lung condition.

Mr Brokenshire, 50, took the role in July 2016, replacing Theresa Villiers.

He was first elected as the Conservative MP for Old Bexley & Sidcup in May 2010. He was subsequently re-elected in 2015 and again in 2017 with more than 60% of the vote.

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He lives in Bexley with his wife, Catherine, and the couple's three children.

Before entering parliament, Mr Brokenshire was a partner in an international law firm.

From May 2011 to May 2015, he served as security minister at the Home Office.

That role included supporting Mrs May, the then home secretary, with oversight of the work of MI5 and the national police counter-terrorism network.

BBC News NI political correspondent Gareth Gordon

As far as Theresa May was concerned, at a time of unprecedented upheaval, James Brokenshire was probably as near to a being a safe pair of hands as her current Cabinet possessed.

But in Northern Ireland, as devolution collapsed around him, he was often dismissed as a "do-nothing" secretary of state who allowed the situation to drift when decisive action was required.

For republicans and nationalists, he and his government were seen as being too close to the DUP.

As far as some in the DUP were concerned, he should have already moved towards introducing direct rule in the face of what they saw as Sinn Fein intransigence.

Caught between these two positions, he appeared to be impotent, but whoever replaces him will face exactly the same problems.

His responsibilities also included the government's counter-terrorism strategy and he was part of the prime minister's extremism taskforce.

He also led negotiations with the Jordanian government to secure the deportation of the radical cleric Abu Qatada.

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