Former Chester city councillor joins Tory-Lib Dem government team

ONE former city councillor may have replaced another as Chester’s MP but a third is part of the government.

Lib Dem Andrew Stunell, a city councillor from 1979 to 1990, is a parliamentary under secretary of state in the new team of ministers at the Department for Communities and Local Government.

MP for Hazel Grove since 1997, Mr Stunell was one of the party's four strong team which negotiated the landmark coalition deal with the Conservatives.

Also a former Lib Dem leader at County Hall, where he held the balance of power for six years, Mr Stunell has served as Lib Dem chief whip on Westminster’s green benches.

He contested the City of Chester seat on three occasions.