Number 10 has announced Broadland MP Keith Simpson will join the Privy Council.

The role - which is traditionally to advise the Queen - is given to all current and former cabinet members, some top judges, and an elite group of senior politicians.

Mr Simpson will be given the lifelong title 'The Right Honourable', and will be referred to as the 'Right Honourable Member' in the House of Commons. The role dates back to the circle of advisors which used to surround the Monarch.

According to the Government, it is now the 'mechanism through which interdepartmental agreement is reached on those items of Government business which, for historical or other reasons, fall to ministers as Privy Counsellors, rather than as Departmental Ministers.'

Decisions made by the Privy Council are recorded in orders which have the force of law. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg was appointed Lord President of the Council in May 2010.

There are currently about 500 members. In the past Privy Counsellors were the chief governing body and fulfilled the role that the Cabinet performs today.

The Lord President of the Council is a member of the cabinet and is in charge of the Office of the Privy Council. In a statement today, Number 10 said: 'The Queen has been pleased to approve the appointment of: Sir Edward Garnier QC MP, Charles Hendry MP, Anne Milton MP, David Evennett MP, Mark Field MP, Dr Julian Lewis MP, Keith Simpson MP, Fiona Mactaggart MP, David Heath MP, Baroness Garden of Frognal and Baroness Northover to Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council.'