Within months of fulfilling his Westminster ambitions, Oxfordshire MP Ed Vaizey has announced that his year is about to get even better.

The new Conservative MP for Wantage is to tie the knot with girlfriend Alex Holland in September.

After 18 months of courtship, Mr Vaizey decided that the 35-year-old corporate lawyer was the woman to spend the rest of his life with.

He said that he had been thinking about it earlier in the year, but waited until after the General Election in May.

"I wanted the election out of the way before proposing," he said.

"I think it's better when you're intending to marry to have a steady paying job."

The wedding will be held in the chapel of the House of Commons on September 17. Mr Vaizey said: "Becoming an MP for Wantage is the realisation of a lifelong dream and marrying Alex has been the most important decision of my life."

Mr Vaizey said it would not be a political event, although his best man will be Michael Gove, another Tory MP elected at the last election.

Witney MP and Tory leadership contender David Cameron, a long-term friend of Mr Vaizey, will also be invited.

He is married to Samantha and the couple have two children.