Brighton MP becomes ministerial aide in the Foreign Office

Brighton Kemptown MP Simon Kirby has been appointed as a ministerial aide at the Foreign Office.

Mr Kirby will serve as parliamentary private secretary (PPS) to fellow Conservative MP and Foreign Office Minister Hugh Robertson.

He had the same unpaid role with Mr Robertson before the recent government reshuffle when the minister served in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Mr Kirby said: “I am delighted to have been promoted to PPS within the Foreign and Commonwealth Office as it will give me the opportunity to lobby the government from a more senior position.

“My focus will always be on the issues that matter to local people and in my experience the PPS role has allowed me to be an even louder voice for the people of Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven.

“Constituents regularly contact me with foreign affairs concerns, for example LGBT rights in Russia, and our relationship with the EU.

“I am pleased that I will now be able to represent my constituents in these matters from a position of influence within the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.”