Ben Lowry: Chris Heaton-Harris stays in office … and unionists should be relieved - but only because it could have been worse

That did not happen yesterday, and unionists should be mightily relieved.

Of all the likely contenders to be NI secretary, Mr Smith would have been perhaps the worst at a time when it London needs to stand firm against a surgent Irish nationalism.

In his short time in post, seven months from July 2019 to February 2020, Mr Smith did lasting damage to unionism.

Yet, even though the problems with Mr Smith's approach became clear within a short time of his appointment, unionists paid almost gushing tribute to him after his (belated) sacking.

Arlene Foster, then DUP leader, and Steve Aiken, the UUP leader, spoke in glowing terms about his commitment to Northern Ireland and wished him the best – albeit both added the caveat that they did not always agree with him.

This newspaper reported on the "widespread dismay" across the political spectrum at Mr Smith's departure.

Boris Johnson was depicted as having behaved abominably in dismissing Mr Smith, when in fact it was Mr Johnson's appointment of the former Tory chief whip that had highlighted the then-prime minister's neglect of the problems facing unionism.

Within weeks of Mr Smith's appointment, I wrote about how he had in a House of Commons committee – with the then-NIO permanent secretary Sir Jonathan Stephens beside him – appeared to give reassurance to the then latest nationalist attempt to tear up the Belfast Agreement (on citizenship).

In December, when Mr Smith was adopting a joint stewardship approach to the Stormont talks with Simon Coveney, one of the most pro-nationalist Irish government ministers since 1998, I wrote about how Mr Smith singled out one party for criticism in the talks – the DUP.

No party had previously been singled out in this way.

No UK minister so much as dared to incur the wrath of republicans by even hinting at criticism of Sinn Fein for its by then three-year collapse of the assembly until it got an Irish language act (as of course it did).In January Owen Polley wrote about how it was hard to imagine the Tories would appoint a worse NI secretary than Karen Bradley, but in Mr Smith they had done.Within weeks, Mr Smith let Mr Coveney tear up the three strands by jointly authoring a UK-Irish Stormont restoration deal that delved deep into strand one (internal NI matters).

And perhaps worst of all, Mr Smith delighted Sinn Fein and surprised everyone else by including in the New Decade New Approach document a commitment to legislate for the Stormont House legacy structures, which it was increasingly clear were going to turn against UK forces who saw off terror.It was the insertion of legacy into that deal which is said to have led to Mr Smith's sacking.

Why do I write at such length about him, given that it is Chris Heaton-Harris has been returned to the NIO?Because some unionists believe Mr Smith will have sway over the new prime minister Rishi Sunak. Both of them wanted to avoid confrontation with the EU over the Irish Sea border.

Mr Smith and other Tories including the NI Affairs Committee chair Simon Hoare – who can be relied upon to speak up each time nationalist Ireland gets agitated about an issue – are among the most outspoken Conservative MPs on NI matters.Meanwhile, Mr Heaton-Harris and his junior minister Steve Baker, who have been depicted as pro-Brexit villains who will trample over local sensitivities, seem in fact less certain in their views about NI than an influential pro-Irish strand in establishment Toryism.

Mr Baker in a recent interview with me spoke of the need for an end to the dominance of EU laws on NI.

But he also penned a joint piece with Mr Hoare the other day on how the protocol can be resolved.

It is possible that Mr Hoare, who has been so publicly dismissive of unionist concerns on a range of issues, has suddenly become more understanding of those fears.

I wouldn't want to bet on it.

• Ben Lowry (@BenLowry2) is News Letter editor

• Ben Lowry October 22: It is hard to see a good result for unionism from Tory turmoil

• Ben Lowry October 15: Up the Ra chant shows why unionists should steer clear of New Ireland