The resignation of the Brexit minister, David Frost, has prompted much speculation over who his successor might be and the political direction of the UK in its negotiations with the EU. Ireland’s EU commissioner, Mairead McGuinness, warned on Sunday that appeasing the “Spartan” wing of hardline Brexit rebels was not the answer to the impasse over Northern Ireland and other issues facing the new minister. Who will be Frost’s successor? Two former Brexit secretaries, Dominic Raab and Stephen Barclay, are said to be in the frame, along with Iain Duncan Smith. But some are calling for a fresh approach, arguing too much power lay in one man’s hands. “Others have to sort out the mess he leaves behind. This will need more than simply replacing Frost,” the crossbench peer Lord Ricketts, a former under secretary at the Foreign Office and ambassador to France, said on Sunday. “Johnson should take this opportunity to end the anomaly that the minister responsible for relations with our nearest neighbours operates as a lone ranger in the Cabinet Office. “He should give the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office responsibility for EU policy, where it can be properly integrated into wider foreign policy under a senior minister for Europe.” What does the EU say the priorities are? McGuinness told RTÉ on Sunday: “The name will change, but the issues will not.” She said the priority was to stabilise the situation in Northern Ireland, where Brexit had caused divisions that threatened to be deep enough to collapse the devolved government. Another hardliner in the job was not the answer, she argued. “If there will be no compromise, then there will be no progress and that’s untenable,” she told RTÉ’s This Week. “If the priority is simply to appease hardliners in the Conservative party, I think we’re in a very bad place,” she warned. “The priority has to be that whoever replaces Lord Frost comes to the table prepared to negotiate and compromise because we want to find solutions that work for Northern Ireland.” Apart from Northern Ireland, what will be in the new Brexit minister’s in-tray? Critics hope the departure of Lord Frost and the weakening of Boris Johnson clears the way for a new approach to the wider relations with the EU. Three key cohorts could benefit from a new shopkeeper: Scientists After a massive dispute with the EU over contributions to the science and research programme, a deal was struck last December to allow the UK to remain in the £80bn flagship seven-year fund. However, a year in scientists are still locked out. The veteran Eurosceptic Bill Cash surmised they were collateral damage, telling MPs recently their participation in the programme was being unfairly hampered by what he felt was a legitimate dispute in Northern Ireland. Musicians and the creative industries Musicians and performers including Sir Elton John have accused the government of “screwing” their livelihoods, after Frost signed a Brexit trade deal ending visa-free travel for short working tours. Expect the creative industries to seek urgent meetings with the new Brexit minister. British citizens living in Europe British nationals living in the EU trying to return home with a European spouse have implored the government to ease up on immigration restrictions that apply post Brexit. They also want a 29 March deadline for EU or other non-British spouses to apply for a family permit, the prerequisite for settled status to be extended. They say the home office delays are now so bad, taking six or more months to process applications, that British families are being forced to split with one spouse getting home for a new job or to look after an elderly parent and the other staying in the EU. Expect urgent campaigning on this in January.