Defence promotion for Ludlow MP Philip Dunne
Ludlow MP Philip Dunne has taken a step up the ministerial ladder by being promoted by the Prime Minister in the cabinet re-shuffle.
Mr Dunne, who was previously Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology has been given the more senior role of Minister for Defence Procurement.
He will take the role under secretary of state Michael Fallon, who has been appointed as defence minister once more.
Mr Dunne, who was re-elected MP for Ludlow and South Shropshire for a third term in last week's general election, said he had no clue of the appointment which followed swiftly after David Cameron had finished picking the members of his new cabinet on Monday evening. He said even when he found out, the news was tweeted before he was allowed to leave the building or even tell his wife.
He said it was an honour to continue working with the Ministry of Defence. "I was a parliamentary under-secretary of state, which is the sort of bottom rung on the ministerial ladder, in the Ministry of Defence," he said.
"I was delighted to have been promoted up a rung within the ministry by the Prime Minister and I am now a minister of state.
"It's a tremendous honour to work with the Ministry of Defence, helping serve our armed forces who are, to a man and woman, the most remarkable people.
"In terms of what the role includes it really encompasses my previous job but it will be somewhat expanded to help support the secretary of state in some of the key decisions that we'll be taking over the next few years."
He said he celebrated with drinks on the terrace at the House of Commons with his parents. Mr Dunne's father Sir Thomas Dunne, is a former Lord Lieutenant of both Herefordshire and Worcestershire and served in the Household Cavalry as a young man.
