Chris Heaton-Harris is the new man in as Northern Ireland Secretary.
He was announced as part of new Prime Minister Liz Truss' cabinet, following the sacking of predecessor Shailesh Vara earlier on Tuesday.
He is the third Conservative MP to hold the role within the past three months and faces some major challenges in his new role, not least the lack of a functioning power-sharing government in Northern Ireland.
However, as a qualified football referee he may be accustomed to being the man in the middle.
Here's a look at just who the new man in the job is - and what he's facing up to in the coming weeks and months.For six years he chaired the Eurosceptic group of Conservative MPs - the European Research Group (ERG).For six years he chaired the Eurosceptic group of Conservative MPs - the European Research Group (ERG).For six years he chaired the Eurosceptic group of Conservative MPs - the European Research Group (ERG).
That part of his political resume may be well received by the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), who support Brexit, but may make anti-Brexit parties at Stormont uneasy.
He also drew controversy in 2017 when he wrote to UK universities asking for names of professors who taught courses on Brexit.
But it is part of his personal resume that could perhaps prove useful during his time here.
According to his website, he has been an active and qualified football referee for more than three decades.
That could come in handy when it comes to stewarding the polarised parties on the Stormont pitch and he may not shy away from showing them a red card or two.
Why has he been appointed?
It could be that he has worked with Liz Truss before on Brexit issues, spending several months working as a junior minister in the Foreign Office on EU trade affairs, while she was foreign secretary.
In January he visited Larne Port to talk to businesses about the protocol, saying he believed a "deal can be done" with Brussels to make changes to the post-Brexit trade arrangements.
He also voted for the government's bill aimed at overriding much of the protocol during all its stages in the Commons.
Given his recent experience as chief whip, a role that notably requires skills of persuasion and political tic-tacking, that may too have helped put him in contention for the job.
What's in his in-tray?
If the prime minister has an in-tray from hell, the new secretary of state's is not much better.
Top of the list is getting the power-sharing institutions at Stormont restored but that depends on how the Northern Ireland Protocol row is resolved.
The DUP, who were returned as the second largest party in May's assembly elections, has refused to re-form a government until Downing Street acts to change the protocol, either via the protocol bill currently in transit through Parliament or via negotiations with the EU.