The battle to become the new leader of Conservative Party and the UK's next Prime Minister has been whittled down to the final two contenders.
Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss are the last two standing in the race to succeed Boris Johnson following a series of votes over recent days by Tory MPs.
The pair will now take their campaigns to the wider Conservative membership of around 160,000 people, who will choose the winner in a postal ballot.
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A small number of those members are from Northern Ireland and will be able to take part in the vote, with the overall result due to be announced on September 5.
Northern Ireland has not featured very heavily by any means in the campaign so far.
Candidates have broadly expressed support for the controversial Northern Ireland Protocol Bill, which aims to unilaterally scrap the post-Brexit Irish Sea trade agreements agreed with the European Union.
But observers have been watching closely to detect any subtle differences in approach that could cast doubt over the proposed legislation.
Here is a look at where the candidates stand on the Protocol and other Northern Ireland-related matters:
Rishi Sunak
The former Chancellor in May said the way the Northern Ireland Protocol was operating was posing enormous challenges to "stability" in the region and had become a barrier to re-establishing Stormont power-sharing.
Mr Sunak said the government's preference was a negotiated settlement with the European Union. He also said he wanted to ensure Northern Ireland's place in the UK was secure.
But the MP for Richmond is regarded as being more reluctant about escalating tensions with the EU over the Irish Sea trading arrangements.
Alliance Party deputy leader Stephen Farry said he understood Mr Sunak has "pushed back a few times privately in relation to some of the antics of the government over the Protocol".
Mr Sunak had 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 Mr 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.
Mr Sunak did not vote on the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill at its second reading.
He also did not vote on the divisive Troubles legacy bill, which would end prosecutions related to the decades-long conflict in Northern Ireland.
Mr Sunak had been resisting pressure from No 10 to cut taxes, arguing it would simply fuel rising prices.
In his campaign video he said the government could not afford to lull voters about the difficulties ahead with "comforting fairy tales".
He said: “Do we confront this moment with honesty, seriousness and determination, or do we tell ourselves comforting fairy tales that might make us feel better in the moment but will leave our children worse off tomorrow?”
Liz Truss
No stranger to political transformations, Ms Truss voted Remain in the 2016 EU referendum but has since embraced Brexit and scooped up the backing of staunch Brexiteers.
As Foreign Secretary, she was responsible for introducing the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill aimed at overriding parts of the post-Brexit Irish Sea trade deal.
In her leadership pitch Ms Truss said she developed the proposed legislation "in the face of EU intransigence".
"It breaks the deadlock in a legal way, upholding the Belfast Good Friday Agreement and preventing the tearing apart of our precious union," she said.
Critics have argued the bill will potentially break international law, but the South West Norfolk MP has rejected this.
She backed the government's contentious Northern Ireland Toubles legacy bill at its second reading.
Ms Truss has made little secret of her leadership ambitions, with a series of interventions and photo opportunities in which she appeared to be channel late Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
She has appeared to portray herself as her tax-cutting heir during the fight for No 10, although Rishi Sunak has sought to claim the same mantle with his very different approach.
Ms Truss has pledged to start cutting taxes “from day one” in order to tackle the cost-of-living crisis if she becomes Prime Minister.
She also aims to reverse the national insurance increase introduced in April, and ensure corporation tax is "competitive".
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