Working in the Department for Work and Pensions, the 48-year-old MP for Basingstoke, who was born and raised in South Wales, formerly oversaw government policy as the minister for disabled people.

Her appointment as the Minister for the Department of Media, Culture and Sport is a significant promotion for Miller – who will now be expected to cover a wide brief in a broad and disconnected department that deals with arts and culture to media and sport. She will also become minister for women and equalities in addition to the DCMS responsibilities.

Miller has some experience in the creative industries before becoming an MP in 2005; she has worked for marketing and advertising agency Grey on two separate occasions.

Between those roles, Miller worked at oil company Texaco in marketing and business development and at PR company Rowland, which was owned at the time by Saatchi & Saatchi.

Among the issues Marie faces is how to create a legacy for the Olympic games, how to respond to the final report of the Leveson inquiry and how to quell an increasingly fractured arts sector undergoing massive changes due in part to public spending cuts.

Miller said: “I am delighted to have been appointed as the culture secretary by the prime minister and am very much looking forward to tackling the many challenges that the role will bring.”