diff --git a/lib/tasks/election.rake b/lib/tasks/election.rake
index 590c09084aba..5138fc5d63a4 100644
--- a/lib/tasks/election.rake
+++ b/lib/tasks/election.rake
@@ -3,12 +3,14 @@ namespace :election do
   task remove_mp_letters: :environment do
     puts "Removing MP from MP's letters:"
     Person.where('letters LIKE "%MP%"').find_each do |person|
-      puts "updating #{person.name}"
-      new_letters = person.letters.gsub(/(^|\s)MP(\s|$)/, "")
-      if person.letters != new_letters
+      new_letters = person.letters.split(" ").reject { _1 == "MP" }.join(" ")
+      if person.letters == new_letters
+        puts "skipped #{person.name} - includes MP (case insensitive), but doesn't match exactly"
+      else
+        old_name = person.name
         person.update!(letters: new_letters)
+        puts "updated #{old_name} to #{person.name}"
       end
-      puts "changed to #{person.name}"
     end
   end
 
diff --git a/test/unit/lib/tasks/election_remove_mp_letters_test.rb b/test/unit/lib/tasks/election_remove_mp_letters_test.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..9e53af0eaef9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unit/lib/tasks/election_remove_mp_letters_test.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+require "test_helper"
+require "rake"
+
+class RemoveMpLettersRake < ActiveSupport::TestCase
+  extend Minitest::Spec::DSL
+
+  teardown { task.reenable }
+
+  describe "#remove_mp_letters" do
+    let(:task) { Rake::Task["election:remove_mp_letters"] }
+
+    it "removes the letters MP from people names" do
+      member_a = create(:person, forename: "A", surname: "Member", letters: "MP")
+      member_b = create(:person, forename: "B", surname: "Member", letters: "CBE MP")
+      member_c = create(:person, forename: "C", surname: "Member", letters: "MP MEng")
+      member_d = create(:person, forename: "D", surname: "Member", letters: "CBE MP MPhil")
+      non_member_a = create(:person, forename: "A", surname: "Non-Member", letters: "CBE MPhil VC")
+
+      out, _err = capture_io { task.invoke }
+
+      assert_match /updated A Member MP to A Member/, out
+      assert_match /updated B Member CBE MP to B Member CBE/, out
+      assert_match /updated C Member MP MEng to C Member MEng/, out
+      assert_match /updated D Member CBE MP MPhil to D Member CBE MPhil/, out
+      assert_match /skipped A Non-Member/, out
+
+      assert_equal "A Member", member_a.reload.name
+      assert_equal "B Member CBE", member_b.reload.name
+      assert_equal "C Member MEng", member_c.reload.name
+      assert_equal "D Member CBE MPhil", member_d.reload.name
+      assert_equal "A Non-Member CBE MPhil VC", non_member_a.reload.name
+    end
+  end
+end