Valerie Vaz is made an advisor to the Queen
A Black Country MP has been appointed to the Privy Council – a a select group of senior politicians who advise the Queen on crucial matters of state.
Valerie Vaz is one of three new members of the body to be announced by Downing Street.
She is the current Shadow Leader of the House of Commons and was first elected as the Labour MP for Walsall South in 2010.
Other new appointments to the Privy Council are Solicitor General Michael Ellis MP and Alec Shelbrooke MP, who are both Conservatives.
The body is currently around 700-strong, and has a life membership including former Prime Ministers Tony Blair and David Cameron, as well as London Mayor Sadiq Khan and Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott.
The role of the council is to advise the Queen on the exercises of Royal Prerogative, while it can also enact acts of Parliament and advise the Queen on the issuing of Royal Charters.
