Dual mandates: MPs to be allowed to sit in Stormont

MPs have not also been allowed to sit at Stormont since 2016

MPs will be able to be elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly but keep their Westminster seats, BBC News NI has learned

But the return of the dual mandate will only last until the next Westminster election due in 2024.

It will bring Northern Ireland into line with the rest of the UK.

The move will allow DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson to stand for election to the assembly in May while retaining his seat at Westminster.

Under existing rules if he was elected to Stormont he would have had to stand down as an MP, leading to a by-election in his Lagan Valley constituency.

Details of the plan were outlined in a letter from the government peer Lord Caine to fellow lords on Friday.

It sets out how the government is proposing an amendment to the Northern Ireland Ministers, Elections and Petitions of Concern Bill which is currently passing through the House of Lords.

The bill provides for other changes at Stormont agreed under the New Decade, New Approach deal.

• Gregory Campbell to stand down as MLA

In the letter seen by the BBC, Lord Caine said the amendment he is tabling would "enable MPs to become MLAs [members of the legislative assembly] at Stormont and hold both seats for the duration of the remainder of that parliament".

"As was previously the case a person who holds office as both MP and an MLA will not be able to claim their salary as an MLA," he added

The move will allow DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson to stand for election to the assembly in May while retaining his seat at Westminster

The letter adds: "The provision for dual mandates is intended to facilitate a move from the House of Commons to the Northern Ireland Assembly without triggering by-elections.

"It is therefore consistent with the assessment made by the UK government in the Northern Ireland Act 2014 that the holding of a dual mandate across parliament and the assembly is not practical on an indefinite basis."

Legislation preventing MPs from holding seats at Westminster and Stormont was passed in 2014, but only came into effect in 2016 when a number of MPs were forced to give up their seats in the assembly.

This latest move will allow for a temporary return for dual mandates.

In his letter, Lord Caine, who is also the under secretary of state for Northern Ireland, said: "There is no appetite or consensus in Northern Ireland to allow dual mandates to continue indefinitely or to return to a situation in which the overwhelming majority of MPs from Northern Ireland were also members of the assembly."

He said the objective was to "support further the functioning of the devolved institutions by providing stability where Northern Ireland parties need to reconfigure their representation across Parliament and Stormont without the triggering of parliamentary by-elections."

The letter also makes clear that the provision will "commence immediately upon Royal Assent" and it is understood the government plans to have it in place before the assembly election in May.