Gay MPs Stephen Twigg and Chris Bryant on Labour front bench
Gay Labour MPs Stephen Twigg and Chris Bryant will return to Labour’s front benches as junior ministers.
Both missed out on places in the shadow cabinet.
Mr Twigg becomes a junior shadow foreign minister and Mr Bryant becomes a junior shadow justice minister.
The reshuffle was announced last night and new leader Ed Miliband gave out ministerial jobs to 23 of Labour’s 66 new MPs.
The shadow cabinet, which was revealed last week, has just one out gay MP – Angela Eagle, the member for Wallasey.
Another of Labour’s best-known gay MPs, Ben Bradshaw, returns to the party’s backbenches, having failed to secure a shadow minister position.
Meanwhile, Nick Brown resigned as chief whip last week at the request of Mr Miliband.
Fiona MacTaggart, the MP for Slough, will become Liberal Democrat minister Lynne Featherstone’s opposite number as junior equality minister.
Ms MacTaggart, who was elected in 2007, has a strong gay rights voting record. She has never voted against gay rights measures and was absent from just three relevant votes.
