GORDON BROWN has appointed a new Merseyside MP as his Westminster “bag carrier”.

Wirral South’s Alison McGovern is now his unpaid Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS).

As such she will be his “eyes and ears” at Westminster and will help him settle on to the Labour back benches after almost a quarter of a century on the front bench, culminating with 10 years as Chancellor and his subsequent stint as premier.

Westminster insiders said that some MPs may have had doubts about becoming closely identified with a man who led Labour to a disastrous defeat and who never won a general election.

But they agreed that it was a significant promotion for 29-year-old Ms McGovern after less than three months an MP.

A PPS role is usually seen as a step on to the first rung of the front bench ladder.

And it is also seen as a reward to Merseyside where the Labour vote held up more strongly than forecast, not least in her constituency, a top Tory target.

Mr Brown has spent most of his time in his Scottish constituency since May 6, in part writing a book on the global economic crisis.

But he intends to spend more time at Westminster after the summer recess.