A St Albans MP has been elected deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats following the recent vote for a new party leader.

Daisy Cooper who was backed by fellow MPs in the vote said she will use her position to replicate the win in St Albans in the last general election where the party won a seat for the first time in the constituency's history.

The announcement follows the election of Sir Ed Davey as party leader last month.

Mrs Cooper said: "I'm proud to have been elected as deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats and I'm champing at the bit to get started.

"Back in December the Liberal Democrats won St Albans for the first time in our history, but it didn't happen overnight.

"We started early and it took us three and a half years to win the seat by getting out there and talking about our values, about being an open, internationalist party which believes in envrionmentalism and civil liberties as well as working alongside the community to imporve people's lives and livelihoods.

"We now have three and a half years until the next election, so if we start now we've got a great chance of winning a good number of seats.

"Using my experience of winning St Albans, we can start to become a lightning rod for those who share our values and to build a campaigning machine."

As well as her new role as deputy leader, Sir Ed Davey recently appointed Mrs Cooper as the Liberal Democrat spokesperson on education.

She added: "The idea that education is a route to opportunity remains a core part of our values today.

"It's shocking that in the 21st century we have children going to school with hungry tummies, so I'll be putting child povery and free school meals at the front of the agenda.

"I'll also be pushing ofr better support for childrern with special educational needs."