Shepton Mallet's MP, James Heappey, has been appointed by the Prime Minister Boris Johnson to be his Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS).

The Prime Minister will have two PPSes - the other will be Alex Burghart (Brentwood and Ongar). A PPS is appointed by a minister to be his or her assistant.

He or she is selected from backbench MPs as the "eyes and ears" of the minister in the House of Commons.

It is an unpaid job but it is useful for an MP to become a PPS to gain experience of working in government.

Mr Heappey said: "I am honoured that the Prime Minister has asked me to be his PPS at this pivotal time for our country.

"It will be fascinating to attend Cabinet and work in Number 10 but much more importantly, I've vital work to do helping colleagues from across the House to share their views with our PM and to understand his plans for the country's future.

"The Prime Minster grew up in Somerset and my co-PPS Alex Burghart was educated here too. So it will be great to have Somerset's voice at the heart of Government and I look forward to working with ministers across Whitehall to deliver for the Wells constituency."