FORMER Oxford West and Abingdon MP Nicola Blackwood has made a return to government after being given a seat in the House of Lords.

The former Tory MP had previously served in the government as Minister of Public Health and Innovation before losing her constituency seat to Layla Moran of the Liberal Democrats in the 2017 General Election.

However, 10 Downing Street confirmed today that after being given a peerage Ms Blackwood has been appointed as a Parliamentary Under Secretary in the Department for Health and Social Care.

Read again: Former Oxford MP Nicola Blackwood could 'rejoin the Government'​

Health secretary Matt Hancock tweeted his congratulations to the 39-year-old saying: “Delighted Nicola Blackwood is returning to govt as our new Lords Minister for Innovation in the Department of Health and Social Care.”

Ms Blackwood was an MP from May 2010 until the June 2017 election.

Since losing her seat in Oxfordshire to Lib Dem Layla Moran, Ms Blackwood has been working as a senior adviser for Peter Mandelson’s lobbying company Global Counsel, while also acting as chair of the Human Tissue Authority.

Read again: Former Oxford West MP Nicola Blackwood cleared to start new jobs

Ms Blackwood’s new government role sees her replace James O’Shaughnessy who resigned in December.

In February last year the former Tory MP was ‘cleared’ to take new roles but was told her experience must not be used to give her employers unfair advantage.

The Office of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments approved roles as a part-time board member of the Campaign for Science and Engineering (CaSE); a part-time paid job with Eagle Genomics, an IT consultancy; and another part-time paid position with Public Group International Limited (Public).