Tobias Ellwood has been appointed as the new Middle East Minister at the Foreign Office in David Cameron’s government reshuffle.

Mr Ellwood’s promotion was one of the last to be announced and came after former minister Hugh Robertson resigned.

The MP for Bournemouth East arrives in the midst of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas terrorists in Gaza.

Mr Ellwood is a former soldier with experience of serving in the Middle East. He has regularly visited Israel and the Palestinian territories on parliamentary delegations.

He previously served as a private secretary to Liam Fox during his time as Defence Secretary.

Mr Ellwood was born in New York, grew up in Germany and Austria, and served with the army’s Royal Green Jackets.

He was stationed in Northern Ireland, Cyprus, Kuwait, Germany and Bosnia.

Writing on Twitter after being appointed, the father-of-two said: “Delighted and honoured to be joining Philip Hammond in the Foreign Office with responsibility for Middle East and North Africa”.

Mr Hammond has replaced William Hague as Foreign Secretary.