Bermuda and the other Overseas Territories have a new British Minister looking at its affairs after Meg Munn was sacked during a Government reshuffle earlier this month after less than a year in the post.

Gillian Merron MP has been appointed as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Ms Merron, 49, who was elected MP for Lincoln in 1997, has done a string of junior Government jobs, most recently she did a ten-month stint in the Department for International Development.

Gillian has also been a Government Whip and an Assistant Government Whip, as well as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Minister for Defence Procurement and the Minister for the Armed Forces.

Ms Munn visited Bermuda in March, when she voiced support for a referendum as a way of deciding whether a nation should go independent.

Last night Premier Ewart Brown's press secretary said the Premier was planning to meet with Ms Merron next week.