Brighton Kemptown MP Simon Kirby has been promoted by Prime Minister David Cameron in the new Conservative government.
Mr Kirby, 50, becomes a whip – one of the party managers responsible for discipline among his colleagues.
He was previously parliamentary private secretary to Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt – a role sometimes described as being a minister’s unpaid bag carrier.
Mr Kirby, who held on to his seat at the general election last Thursday (7 May), has been made an assistant government whip in the Government Whips Office.
He said: “The job will involve significant responsibility for getting government business through the House of Commons as we seek to implement the Conservative manifesto in full.
“Winning a majority at the general election was a significant achievement. But it is a narrow majority and the new Conservative government is committed to working hard to make the changes we need to keep our economy growing, create more jobs, improve our schools, protect our NHS, upgrade our transport network and make sure that our area has a loud voice in government.
“I’m excited to be tasked with playing a key part in delivering these initiatives on behalf of the people of Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven who will always come first.”
He is not the only parliamentary whip in the Brighton Kemptown constituency. It is also home to the Opposition Chief Whip in the House of Lords, Steve Bassam.
Lord Bassam of Brighton led Brighton Borough Council and the newly merged Brighton and Hove Council before becoming a life peer.
He stood for Labour in Brighton Kemptown at the 1987 general election, coming second to long-serving Conservative MP Andrew Bowden.
The whip system is yet another dreadful failing of the British so called democratic system. As a whip, Kirby will always vote with the government, no independent thought allowed and stuff the views of the constituents.
Labour and Conservative parties both follow the whip system locally and nationally. It reduces their elected members to little more than performing seals.