(Bloomberg) -- UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he’s confident the resignation of Democratic Unionist Party leader Jeffrey Donaldson won’t destabilize Northern Ireland’s executive as it resumes work after a two-year boycott by the DUP.

Donaldson, who was a key player in the discussions that led to the restoration of the region’s power-sharing government, quit as DUP leader on Friday after being charged with “allegations of an historical nature,” the party said in a statement, adding that he had been suspended.

“I’m reassured that everyone is committed to delivering that stability going forward,” Sunak said in a pooled interview with broadcasters on Tuesday. “The people of Northern Ireland have waited a long time to have their executive back up and running. It’s important that it continues to do so and they will have our full support.”

UK police have charged Donaldson — Northern Ireland’s longest-serving Member of Parliament — with historical sexual offenses. While he’s not a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly, as DUP leader, he was central to negotiating the return of his party to the region’s power-sharing institutions earlier this year, after a two-year boycott over post-Brexit trading rules. 

The executive is led by Irish nationalist Michelle O’Neill, of Sinn Fein, while under its power-sharing structure, the DUP’s Emma Little-Pengelly is deputy first minister.

DUP deputy leader Gavin Robinson was appointed as Donaldson’s interim successor later on Friday. Sunak said he looks forward to working with Robinson, with whom he has worked in the past including during the negotiations to restore Stormont and on other parliamentary matters. 

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