Mid Bedfordshire MP Nadine Dorries has been promoted in Prime Minister Boris Johnson's cabinet reshuffle today.

She formerly held the Minister of State role for the Department of Health and Social Care, to which she was appointed in May 2020, where she acted as Minister for Patient Safety, Suicide Prevention and Mental Health.

Now, Ms Dorries will take over as Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Secretary, taking over from MP for Hertsmere, Oliver Dowden.

Mr Dowden will now serve as co-chair of the Conservative party.

Ms Dorries took to Twitter and said: "Huge thanks to wonderful, talented, brilliant team and colleagues at the Department of Health and Social Care

"Privilege to serve as Minister for just over two years and proud of the work we did in really challenging circumstances, particularly on suicide prevention and mental health.

"Excited to be appointed Secretary of State DCMS and hit the ground running this morning with my first oral questions and getting stuck into job at hand! Looking forward to building on work of Oliver Dowden and championing our unrivalled arts, sports, media and digital sectors."

Prior to her role as Minister of State, Ms Dorries worked as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department for Health and Social Care - appointed in July 2019.

In her new role, she will be responsible for strategy and policy for the department, which includes arts and culture, media ownership and mergers, telecommunications and online.

Her predecessor, Mr Dowden, took on the role as DCSM Secretary in February 2020, just over a month before the first national lockdown.

A large amount of his tenure had been focused on reopening events during the pandemic.

One hiccup during his time was an advert which suggested individuals in the arts could make their next career moves 'in cyber', which drew a large amount of criticism.