Well done Parmjit

Gloucester's energetic young MP Parmjit Dhanda has been promoted out of the whips' office to be a junior minister in the Department for Education and Skills. Since being elected in 2001 he's made a major impact both in Gloucester, where he's helped to bring in millions of pounds for regeneration, and at Westminster. He was one of a handful of Labour MPs to increase his majority in 2005. He's been promoted in spite of voting against sending British troops to Iraq.

He's also a new dad; his son Zac was born on 1st Jan in the new bit of the Gloucestershire Royal Hospital which is just across the road from the Labour Party office in Gloucester. The Gloucester Citizen reports that he "had been upstairs at home changing his son's nappy when the call came at 5.30pm yesterday. But with his hands full, he missed the call and then received a pager message asking him to ring number 10. He was put through to Tony Blair, who gave him the news." Ah bless......