Chris Heaton-Harris has retained his role as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's Cabinet reshuffle.
He is among a number of re-appointments from former Prime Minister Liz Truss' short-lived administration.
Mr Heaton-Harris stays in the role just days away from a six-month legislative deadline to restore Stormont's power-sharing institutions.
Read more: December Northern Ireland Assembly election to cost £6.5m
If no Executive is in place by midnight on Friday, the Secretary of State assumes a legal responsibility to call an early Assembly election.
Mr Heaton-Harris has previously insisted he will call a fresh poll if the deadline is breached, with December 15 the likely date.
But it remains unclear whether the new Prime Minister will take a different approach to the issue.
Stormont has been in limbo for months with the DUP blocking the restoration of the institutions in protest over Brexit's Northern Ireland Protocol, which has created trade barriers between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
The UK Government has vowed to secure changes to the protocol, either through a negotiated compromise with the European Union or domestic legislation to override the arrangements.
MLAs are to convene at Stormont on Thursday for another seemingly doomed bid to resurrect the power-sharing institutions, hours before the deadline for calling an election.
The Cabinet reshuffle has seen loyalists of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson among 11 ministers who have left government.
Jacob Rees-Mogg resigned as Business Secretary while former Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis stepped down as Justice Secretary.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, brought into the Treasury to fix the economic turbulence which began under the last Prime Minister, is staying in the role ahead of his Halloween financial statement.
Dominic Raab, one of Mr Sunak's strongest backers who was sacked by Ms Truss, was rewarded with Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary, roles he held under Mr Johnson.
Mr Heaton-Harris, MP for Daventry in England, was previously chief whip for the government before his appointment last month as Northern Ireland secretary.
A self-described "fierce Eurosceptic", the 54-year-old was chairman of the European Research Group of pro-Brexit Conservative MPs between 2010 and 2016.
The staunch Brexiteer was previously Minister of State for Europe, assisting Ms Truss as Foreign Secretary on discussions over the Northern Ireland Protocol.
The MP has also been an active and qualified football referee for more than three decades, according to his website.
Mr Heaton-Harris was appointed Secretary of State amid claims that Ms Truss had been "struggling" to fill the post with others reportedly turning down the role.
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