Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn has appointed Stroud MP David Drew to the front bench as Shadow Minister for Food and Farming.

Corbyn made 20 appointments to the shadow front bench on Monday, including Halifax MP Holly Lynch, who also joins the shadow Defra team, under shadow environment secretary Sue Hayman. The Labour leader said the appointments come following Labour’s advances in last month’s general election. He said, “I’m delighted to be filling Labour’s shadow front bench with a wealth of talent. Our new shadow ministers will bolster the excellent work of Labour’s shadow cabinet and departmental teams. These appointments are further evidence that Labour is not just the opposition – we are the government in waiting.”

David Drew is a former teacher, who won back his strand seat in last month’s election. He was noted for rebelling against the Iraq war under PM Tony Blair, and for holding Eurosceptic views, a rarity amongst Labour MPs. Under the last Labour government, served on the EFRA select committee, and its predecessor the Agriculture Select Committee, though this is his first front bench position.