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A new Tory MP has been accused of misleading the public after a Facebook post that described him as an NHS nurse was quietly edited.

Ian Levy shot to prominence on Friday after winning former mining community Blyth Valley, Labour since 1950, in the first big upset of election night.

But he now faces questions over a post on his Facebook page dated November 9 which originally said: "As an NHS nurse myself, I am immensely proud of the investment by our Conservative government."

This post was edited 10 days later and now describes him as an "NHS mental health nursing assistant".

A local NHS worker told the Mirror that despite sounding similar, the two roles were "very different" as becoming a registered nurse takes several years and can carry the power to detain people under the Mental Health Act.

Colleagues were "angry that he would lie about being a nurse to win votes", the worker claimed.

They said: "Nursing has professional status and thus comes with a level of trust within society.

"I am not dismissive of the role that nursing assistants and support workers play - they do a superb job.

"But there is a huge difference between the two roles."

Mr Levy does not appear on the register of nurses held by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), and his local NHS trust told freelance journalist Esther Beadle that he was "employed as a healthcare assistant."

Another comment that is still on his Facebook page claims: "I have worked for 30 years as a mental health nurse with the NHS."

And the Mirror was sent a screenshot of a reply to the original post, from a Facebook user which said "Nursing assistant Ian", which appeared to have been deleted.

Judith Ellis, a former interim chair at the NMC, told Nursing Times that Mr Levy had not technically broken any rules as he did not use the full protected title "registered nurse".

(Image: Facebook)

She told Nursing Times: "I think he has misled if he’s said that he’s a mental health nurse, but it’s not protected so the NMC can do nothing. That’s the game he’s played.

“He’s changed it now to a healthcare assistant in mental health, so he’s obviously aware.

“This is my concern, that it happens all the time. It’s difficult, because you don’t say ‘somebody midwived someone’ but you do say ‘nursed.’ It’s a tricky one.

"But by not [protecting the term] we undermine the profession. It’s not fair and it deceives the public.”

(Image: Ian Levy)

Mr Levy said it was a "massive, massive honour" on Friday after he beat Labour's Susan Dungworth in the former mining community by 17,440 votes to 16,728.

The result crushed a 7,915 Labour majority in a seat that was far down the list of Tory targets.

In his victory speech Mr Levy said: "I would like to thank Boris. I'm going to be on that train on Monday going to London. We're going to get Brexit done."

Mr Levy has not yet responded to repeated attempts by the Mirror to obtain a comment.

Nursing Times, which originally published a story about Mr Levy on Friday, also said they approached him for comment.