Boris return not for good of country, says former UUP boss Steve Aiken

Speaking to the News Letter, Mr Aiken was scathing about the "mess" the Conservative government has made over the last number of years and said he would be "wary" of whoever is elected to replace the outgoing Liz Truss as Prime Minister.

Mr Johnson is considered a front runner to make a sensational return to the highest office in UK politics just months after announcing his resignation from the role under pressure from his own party.

Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor under Mr Johnson's administration, is another front-runner while Penny Mordaunt is considered an outsider.

"Anybody in unionism who thinks the Conservatives have done us any favours, just ask the DUP," he told the News Letter. "They hung them out to dry. Any Tory leader will do exactly the same thing if it's in their own interest.”

Mr Aiken, backing calls for a General Election, said the government "has run out of ideas and has run out of authority".

His comments were echoed by the Alliance MP Stephen Farry, who warned that Boris Johnson "remains tainted by scandal" with a return to power "disastrous".

DUP MLA Gordon Lyons, meanwhile, has said the political instability at Westminster is hindering efforts to restore a fully functioning devolved government at Stormont.Mr Lyons said the flux at Downing Street following Liz Truss’s resignation as Prime Minister was diverting government focus from resolving issues with Brexit’s Northern Ireland Protocol.