MP Ben Chapman weds pharmacist, Ms Maureen Kelly this Saturday. At the Heswall Festival last Saturday, the Labour Member for South Wirral, who lives in Heswall, told the Globe: "I have been looking forward to the day ever since Maureen and I became engaged in April. We are both very happy and are looking forward to many years of married life together."

However, the honeymoon must wait until Parliament goes into recess, then the happy couple will spend a week in Cumbria.

The wedding takes place informally at Westminster Register Office, London, near Madame Tussauds. It will be followed by a reception for family and friends at the House of Commons in a terrace marquee. Lounge suits for men, but in keeping with tradition, the bride's outfit is being kept secret until the ceremony.

Musician friends will be playing jazz for the happy couple at a wedding-night party in a London pub.

It has been a whirlwind few years for the retired diplomat, who took Wirral South from the Conservatives in a by-election which paved the way to London and a Labour Government.

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