Facebook has made a shock move to appoint former UK deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg to lead its global affairs and communications team.

The appointment was first reported by the Financial Times and later confirmed by Clegg on his Facebook page. Clegg, 51, will move to Silicon Valley in January to replace Elliot Schrage, who announced he would be leaving the company back in June, taking the title of VP of global affairs and communication.

Clegg agreed to take up the job after months of discussions with both Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg.

“I am delighted to be joining Facebook. After almost twenty years in European and British politics, this is an exciting new adventure for me,” said Clegg.

“Having spoken at length to Mark and Sheryl over the last few months, I have been struck by their recognition that the company is on a journey which brings new responsibilities not only to the users of Facebook’s apps but to society at large. I hope I will be able to play a role in helping to navigate that journey.”

Facebook has had a rough time of things over the last few years. One issue has quickly followed by the next starting with Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election through to the Cambridge Analytica scandal and, most recently, on to the cyberattack which exposed the personal information of 10s of millions of users.

During this time, Facebook had to face announcements from both Schrage and fellow top policy and communications executive, Rachel Whetstone, about their departures from the company. It is up to former Liberal Democrat leader Clegg to pick up where the pair leave off at the beginning of next year.

“Facebook, WhatsApp, Messenger, Oculus and Instagram are at the heart of so many people’s everyday lives – but also at the heart of some of the most complex and difficult questions we face as a society: the privacy of the individual; the integrity of our democratic process; the tensions between local cultures and the global internet; the balance between free speech and prohibited content; the power and concerns around artificial intelligence; and the wellbeing of our children,” Clegg continued in his post on Facebook.

“I believe that Facebook must continue to play a role in finding answers to those questions – not by acting alone in Silicon Valley, but by working with people, organisations, governments and regulators around the world to ensure that technology is a force for good.”