The former Liberal Democrat leader has worked at Facebook since 2018, focusing on public relations. He will now work exclusively on regulatory issues as chief executive Mark Zuckerberg steps back from making policy decisions at a crucial time for the company.

His new job title will be president for global affairs, putting Sir Nick on the same level as Mr Zuckerberg and chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg, the firm's two most senior bosses.

Facebook, which rebranded to Meta in 2021, has come under intense scrutiny in recent years - recently being accused of "harming children, stoking division and weakening our democracy" by Frances Haugen, an employee who leaked damning internal documents in October 2021.

Sir Nick will deal with governments around the world, arguing the case that Meta’s products, which also include Instagram and WhatsApp, are beneficial to society and should not be more heavily regulated.

While the former British politician was already running the company’s global policy unit, Mr Zuckerberg said that Meta needed an executive at the very top of the company who would manage all regulatory matters.

“We need a senior leader at the level of myself (for our products) and Sheryl (for our business) who can lead and represent us for all of our policy issues globally,” Mr Zuckerberg wrote on Facebook.

Sir Nick, who was British deputy prime minister between 2010 and 2015, joined as the company was reeling from accusations over its involvement in the 2016 US presidential election and the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

He left politics after losing his Sheffield Hallam seat in the 2017 general election.

Ms Sandberg said Sir Nick’s new role came at "a crucial time for our company and our industry as new rules for the internet are written all over the world".