An East Lancashire born and raised MP has been appointed as a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport.

Richard Holden, who is the Conservative MP for North West Durham, came into the role on October 28.

Mr Holden, 37, was born in Grindleton in the Ribble Valley and went to primary school in the village before going to Ermysted’s Grammar School across the border in Skipton, as well as Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School in Blackburn.

He then completed sixth form at St Mary’s College in Blackburn before going on to study Government and History at the London School of Economics.

He worked as a waiter before getting a job at Conservative Party headquarters, working his way through the ranks to become Deputy Head of Press in 2012.

He unsuccessfully ran for election in 2015 in Preston before becoming a special adviser and working on Theresa May’s leadership campaign, returning to SpAd work and then working on Boris Johnson’s leadership campaign.

He was then selected to run in the North West Durham seat, becoming the seat’s first Tory representative since its creation in 1950, defeating Labour rising star Laura Pidcock by 1,144 votes as part of the Red Wall destruction in the 2019 election.

He backed Rishi Sunak when he lost the leadership election this summer to Liz Truss, and now works under Secretary of State Mark Harper in the Department of Transport.

Upon being appointed to the role, he said: “Honoured to have been appointed a Minister at the Department of Transport.

“Having served as Parliamentary Private Secretary at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, and briefly at Transport and the Department for International Trade, this is a step up but one I’m really looking forward to.

“North West Durham constituents will continue, as ever, to receive the same full-tilt service.”