Facebook has hired former United Kingdom Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg to lead its global affairs and communications team, Reuters reported on Friday. The move makes Clegg the seniormost European politician to take on a leadership role at a Silicon Valley firm.

The 51-year-old will be the vice president of global affairs and communications at Facebook, BBC reported. He will move to California, United States, in January 2019. Clegg will take over from Elliot Schrage and will report to the Sheryl Sandberg, the firm’s chief operating officer.

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The former politician joins the company at a time when Facebook faces several public scandals, including the Cambridge Analytica data breach and alleged election meddling. On Tuesday, four major United States public funds that hold shares in Facebook Inc supported a proposal to remove Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg as chairman.

Clegg said he was delighted about joining Facebook, BBC reported. “Having spoken at length to Mark and Sheryl over the last few months, I have been struck by their recognition that the company is on a journey which brings new responsibilities not only to the users of Facebook’s apps but to society at large,” Clegg said. “I hope I will be able to play a role in helping to navigate that journey.”

The former deputy prime minister was the leader of the Liberal Democrats and formed a coalition government with David Cameron’s Conservatives in 2010.

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Facebook scandals

In March, Facebook suspended Cambridge Analytica, a political data analytics firm, ffrom using its platform for violating the social media giant’s data privacy policies.

The British firm, which worked on US President Donald Trump’s 2016 election campaign, was found to have harvested the data of 87 million Facebook users.

Last week, the company said hackers had stolen personal details of 29 million Facebook users in September.