Matthew Hancock appointed Minister of State for digital policy

Matthew Hancock has replaced Ed Vaisey as minister of state responsible for digital policy at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Hancock entered parliament in 2010 as MP for West Suffolk, under the coalition government, and has been tipped as a rising star in the Conservative party due to his young age - he is 37 years-old.

Hancock has a degree in PPE from Exeter College Oxford and he has a working knowledge of the digital economy, from working at his family's software business Border Business Systems, a DMA Member, before he moved on to work at the Bank of England, where he dealt with the housing market.

He has a keen interest in the digital economy, giving annual Keith Joseph Memorial Lecture in early June 2016 which related to the digital economy and digital disruption.

"While much progress in the last two centuries was based on separating consumption and production in pursuit of efficiency, much of what gets produced in digital form today is done so at zero marginal cost to the producer and at zero cost to the consumer.

"And in the act of consuming a digital service we are also producing, because much of the digital economy runs on the user data we provide," he said.

From the Bank of England he worked as George Osborne's chief of staff while the Conservatives were in opposition, resigning the post to take up his seat.

In Government he has worked as under secretary of state for skills between 2012 and 2013, then minister of state for skills and enterprise between 2013 and 2014.

He moved to BIS in 2014 as minister for small business, industry and enterprise, then minister of state for energy in 2014 and minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General between 2015 and his new appointment.

In addition to his ministerial duties he co-authored the book 'Masters of Nothing' with Nadhim Zahawi MP in September 2011, which documented the behaviours responsible for the economic crash in 2007/2008.

His constituency includes the Newmarket racetrack, and he won a charity event in 2012 at the course. He was also involved in the most northerly game of cricket ever played, inside the arctic circle, in 2012.