NORTH East Hampshire MP James Arbuthnot has been re-elected as chairman of the House of Commons Defence Select Committee.

Mr Arbuthnot was up against three fellow Conservative MPs for the job, which he held in the last parliament.

This year, new rules agreed by MPs meant they elected select committee chairmen. In the third round of vote counting under an alternative vote system, where MPs voted in order of preference, Mr Arbuthnot polled 273 votes to Patrick Mercer’s 245. The other candidates were Dr Julian Lewis and Douglas Carswell.

Which party should chair which committee was agreed in a motion of the House of Commons in May.