Priti Patel, the Conservative MP for Witham, has been elected by her colleagues to serve as a member of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee.

“With Britain leaving the EU and our role in the world changing, I want to see our country make the most of the new opportunities we will have," Ms Patel said.

Last November, Ms Patel resigned as UK international development secretary amid controversy over unauthorised meetings with Israeli officials

UK Dept for International Development

Voters will be forgiven if they feel underwhelmed by the row over Witham MP Priti Patel's holiday to Israel.

She was on a family holiday which she paid for herself and she chose to meet a few officials while out there.

Personally I can think of better ways of spending my holiday, but Ms Patel is a long-standing supporter of Israel and a former vice-chairman of Conservative Friends of Israel.

The problem is that if senior ministers hold meetings abroad they're supposed to tell the Foreign Office which, understandably, wants to ensure that the British Government is speaking with the same voice.

So she failed to follow procedures and that deserves a wrap on the knuckles.

But the added problem is that when the press started asking questions she was slow to respond, and then gave an answer which suggested that the Foreign Office had known about the trip before she went and she had only met a handful of people.

Now we know that the Foreign Office only found out about the trip once it was under way and she met a total of 12 people, including the Israeli prime minister.

It all seems a little odd - why hold so many meetings on a private holiday and why appear so secretive about them? That's why Labour is calling for a full investigation.

Ms Patel has apologised and says she can now see how her enthusiasm "could have been misread".

But it's another awkward story for a government which is already fielding a number of other embarrassing stories.

Some prime ministers would sack a colleague for this. Theresa May probably knows that firing a key Brexiteer would cause her even more problems.

So Priti Patel is likely to stay in her job. She'll just be hoping that no more embarrassing stories emerge.

Essex University professor of politics Paul Whiteley has said Theresa May's failure to sack an Essex MP from the government reminds him of John Major's problems when he was prime minister in the mid-1990s.

The current PM said Priti Patel, the Witham MP, had been "reminded of her obligations" as international development minister after she held meetings with senior Israeli officials without the knowledge of the British Foreign Office.

Mr Whiteley said it made government look "incoherent".

"It amounts to a sort of rogue, freelancing foreign policy and it's hard to think of a minister getting into this kind of mess in the past and surviving," he said.

"I'm reminded of the 1990s when John Major was prime minister and there was a lot of dissension in the Conservative Party. He was relatively weak and unable to contain it and it went on and on.

"It culminated in the Labour landslide of 1997 and the Conservatives out of power for years.

"It's looking like that's going to happen unless she [Theresa May] can sort this out."

Ms Patel has apologised for the meetings.

A professor of politics says he's "surprised" the international development secretary Priti Patel hasn't been sacked from government.

It follows the Witham MP's admission that she held 12 meetings with senior Israeli officials while on holiday there, without the knowledge of the British Foreign Office. She's apologised for the meetings.

Prof Paul Whiteley, from Essex University, said her brief is international development, not foreign policy, claiming she's broken the ministerial code.

"She's made it worse by claiming the Foreign Office knew about it, but then having to withdraw this claim," he said.

"In my view this is a sackable offence, because it's very lacking in discipline and makes government policy look incoherent."

EPA

It's also been reported that Ms Patel, Conservative, suggested some of Britain's overseas aid budget goes to the Israeli army.

Theresa May said she wants the ministerial code of conduct to be tightened following the revelations, adding Ms Patel had been "reminded of her obligations" as a cabinet minister.

Essex County councillor Stephen Canning congratulates two of his fellow Conservatives who've succeeded in holding on to their seats:

With all the general election 2017 candidates' nominations papers in, we've collected together links to where you can find full information from the returning officers in the 18 Essex constituencies:

• Basildon and Billericay
• Braintree
• Brentwood 
• Castle Point
• Chelmsford
• Clacton
• Colchester
• Epping Forest
• Harlow
• Harwich and North Essex
• Maldon
• Rayleigh and Wickford

• Rochford and Southend East 
• Saffron Walden
• South Basildon and East Thurrock 
• Southend West
• Thurrock
• Witham

The election takes place on Thursday, 8 June.