Chris Page
Ireland correspondent, reporting from Belfast

The past few years have seen increased debate and public discussion about the constitutional future of Northern Ireland.

A rise in support for parties who are neutral on that issue has seen unionism lose its overall majority in the Stormont Assembly chamber.

However, the number of people voting for parties who want to maintain Northern Ireland’s place in the UK is still greater than those backing parties which favour a united Ireland.

The Good Friday Peace Agreement in 1998 said the British government should call a referendum on Irish unity if it appeared likely a majority in Northern Ireland would vote for a change.

Boris Johnson consistently ruled out calling a “border poll”, on the grounds the criteria set out in the Agreement had not been fulfilled.

His successor is very unlikely to take a different position.

Future election results in Northern Ireland during the next few years will indicate whether a referendum may become more likely.

Image source, Reuters

Liz Truss is the only candidate so far to have mentioned the protocol in the public speech for her leadership bid.

As foreign secretary, she was responsible for introducing the bill to scrap parts of the protocol. In her leadership pitch she said the protocol bill “breaks the deadlock in a legal way, upholding the Belfast Good Friday Agreement and preventing the tearing apart of our precious union".

In a letter to the Financial Times in June, Truss said the protocol was undermining the Good Friday Agreement, had created practical problems and "a growing sense that the rights and aspirations of some parts of the community are being undermined".

She said new legislation was necessary because "all other options within the current EU mandate are currently exhausted".

Find out more about the Northern Ireland Protocol and what it means here.

Image source, Reuters

The Northern Ireland Protocol is a special arrangement that keeps Northern Ireland in the EU's single market for goods, avoiding a hard border with the Republic of Ireland.

In May, Sunak told Bloomberg that the way the protocol was operating was posing enormous challenges to "the stability of the situation" in Northern Ireland.

He said it had become a barrier to re-establishing the devolved government at Stormont, which collapsed in February after the Democratic Unionist Party pulled out First Minister Paul Givan in protest over the protocol.

Sunak said the UK government's preference was a negotiated settlement and added that he wanted to ensure Northern Ireland's place in the United Kingdom was secure, but he did not vote on the protocol bill at second reading.

The bill could override parts of the protocol.Sunak urged Boris Johnson and his former chief Brexit negotiator Lord Frost not to"blow up" talks with the EU about the protocol, the Daily Telegraph reported late last year.

The paper said Sunak raised concerns over the potential impact on the economy and that he did not have the same sense of "urgency" over the protocol as other cabinet members.

At the time the Treasury declined to comment.

The Northern Ireland Conservatives are a relatively recent addition to the political landscape in Northern Ireland, having only begun organising as a separate party in 1989.

Between 1922 and 1972 the Conservative Party instead operated a formal arrangement with the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), whose MPs took the Conservative whip at Westminster.

Since 1992 the NI Tories have contested elections in Northern Ireland and have had a handful of councillors elected, but have never won a Westminster or Stormont seat.

In 2009 the Tories attempted to launch a fresh partnership with the UUP, branded as Ulster Conservatives and Unionists - New Force, but the move did not work out.

In the 2019 general election the Conservatives stood in four constituencies, winning 0.7% of the vote.

In the Northern Ireland Assembly election earlier this year the party stood in just one constituency and won 0.03% of the overall vote.

It is thought there are about 600 Tory members in Northern Ireland.

Gareth Gordon
NI Political Correspondent, reporting from Belfast

Tory members in Northern Ireland will have a chance to hear from leadership candidates Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak when they go head-to-head in Belfast today.

Shane Quinn is from Strabane, a town dominated by the politics of Irish nationalism, but he has also chosen to be a member of the Northern Ireland Conservatives - a party many there would regard as politically untouchable."I wouldn't say it's difficult," the barrister say."It's probably unusual in the sense that most people from my own particular background would tend to see themselves as nationalist."But the way I see it is that there's no party in Northern Ireland that owns my vote. I find my values better represented by the Northern Ireland Conservatives than any of their competitors."

For years the Northern Ireland Conservatives have been a political afterthought, ignored by the voters and - they believe - the party leadership in Westminster.

Some feel the confidence-and-supply arrangement with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) at Westminster damaged their attempts to win votes as a non-sectarian party.

Another Northern Ireland Conservative, Sheila Bodel, says: "I was disappointed there's no doubt."I know that we have to try to get as much done in government as possible.

"But I would like to see them work with Conservative candidates to get them elected rather than work with other political parties."

Image source, Reuters

The actions of some protesters outside last night's Tory hustings in Scotland have been condemned by the Scottish first minister.

Nicola Sturgeon says it's "disgraceful" that the BBC's Scotland editor James Cook received abuse from pro-independence campaigners outside the venue in Perth.

A BBC statement said Cook "showed professionalism throughout the incident".

There were reports of further abuse and eggs being hurled at Tory members as they entered the event.

Police Scotland said they had an "appropriate policing plan" in place, and that no arrests were made.

Image source, PA Media

Sajid Javid, a key Liz Truss supporter, has insisted that British workers are "among the hardest working in the world" - after it emerged that Truss once said they needed to show "more graft".

In a leaked recording published by The Guardian yesterday, Truss suggested Britons lacked the "skill and application" of foreign nationals.

Labour accused her of calling Brits lazy.

Javid said he understood the comments were made a number of years ago.

During Tuesday's hustings events in the Scottish city of Perth, Truss did not deny making the comments and said productivity needed to improve.

Read more here.

The hustings in Belfast take place with less than three weeks to go until the winner - and new prime minister - is announced.

Party members are currently casting their votes. The candidate who wins will automatically become prime minister, as the leader of the party with a majority in the House of Commons.

The ballot of party members closes on 2 September.

And the winner will be revealed on 5 September.

Image source, PA Media

Welcome to our live coverage of the Conservative leadership contest to decide the next prime minister.

We’re at the eighth Conservative leadership hustings today, where candidates Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak will be discussing their policies at the event near Belfast, Northern Ireland.

The event kicks off at 13:00, with Truss and Sunak each talking about their vision for the future of Northern Ireland and the UK.

They’ll then take questions from audience members.

Stay with us for the latest updates.