DUP leader Gavin Robinson is likely to be the only unionist sitting on the new Northern Ireland Affairs select committee at Westminster, although there has been no official conformation so far.

One unionist MP will be granted a seat by the Conservatives as smaller parties are not guaranteed seats as of right – but it is unclear who that seat will be granted to.

The only Northern Ireland MPs named so far are the Alliance Party’s Sorcha Eastwood and the SDLP leader Claire Hanna.

Unionism has three parties and an independent in this parliament – whereas last time round all pro-Union MPs were from the DUP.

placeholder image — Labour's Tonia Antoniazzi is the new chair of the NI Affairs Committee at Westminster. Picture date: Tuesday September 7, 2021.

The committee will be chaired by Welsh Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi, who previously served as a shadow Northern Ireland minister.

On her election to the post last month, the Gower MP said “It is a privilege to have been entrusted by my fellow members with chairing the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee. I look forward to working with parties from across the political spectrum to ensure the issues that matter are properly scrutinised in the interests of all communities in NI.”

She has been outspoken in the past against her own party’s government in Cardiff, accusing them of being “dictated to” by an LGBT charity.

In 2021 she told the BBC that the Welsh government promoted an “ideological culture” by adopting Stonewall’s interpretation of equality law. She said the Senned government had adopted a “lack of transparency and independence around policy making” and encouraged them to make a “safe space” for people to speak their mind on the contentious issue.

In the last parliament, former chair Robert Buckland infuriated unionists when he ruled out any return to direct rule from London, saying governance in the Province would include the "involvement of the Irish government, ultimately" unless devolution was restored.

DUP MP Sammy Wilson said “Every devious, deceitful and dishonest tactic is being used to try to bribe, bully and beat Unionists into accepting the Windsor framework and the NI protocol”.

The other MPs already confirmed are Daniel Aldridge, Chris Bloore, Leigh Ingham, Adam Jogee, Katrina Murray, Dr Al Pinkerton and David Smith.