A VICE president now lives in Oxfordshire.

One of the county's MPs, John Howell, has been elected this week as a vice-president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

The Conservative MP for Henley was elected into this role having already been named as the head of the British delegation to the council, which deals with human rights law and overseeing elections across the continent.

The role will see Mr Howell acting as the equivalent of a deputy speaker of the assembly, and also involves the MP assisting the president with his duties in the council.

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Mr Howell said: “I am very honoured to have been elected to this position. I have tried to take a role of peacemaker within the council. But there are unfortunately conflicts in Europe which need to be settled including between Azerbaijan and Armenia and between Russia and Ukraine and Georgia.

“I urge all states to follow the values of the council. One of these values is human rights and it is a shame that two countries – Russia and Turkey – have more cases before the European Court of Human Rights than any others. I look forward to this role.”

The current president of the council of Europe is Hendrik Jules Joseph ‘Rik’ Daems, a Belgian politician who also trades wine and is known as a painter.

There are 47 nations that sit in the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe.

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