Conservative MP delighted to get Northern Island job

A junior aide to a new Northern Ireland minister was left red-faced after he made a gaffe about the province on Twitter, mistakenly identifying it as "Northern Island".



Alec Shelbrooke, the Conservative MP for Elmet and Rothwell, tweeted his delight at becoming parliamentary private secretary (PPS) to Mike Penning, the Minister of State at the Northern Ireland Office, after the reshuffle.

But instead the 36 year-old wrote “Island”. Mr Shelbrooke, who lives in North Yorkshire, described it as a “simple mistake”.



A PPS is the most junior rung on the ministerial ladder, with those holding the office acting as an unpaid "bag carrier" to a more senior minister.