A former Suffolk MP has been made a peer in what she describes as an "extraordinary year".
Dame Therese Coffey, who represented Suffolk Coastal for 14 years until the General Election earlier this year, is one of 38 new appointments to the House of Lords.
She is one of six Tories to have been made a peer, alongside 30 Labour appointments and two from the Liberal Democrats.
"I'm honoured that the leader of my party Kemi Badenoch has put me forward and I look forward to being an active member of the Lords," she told the PA News Agency.
"It's a great end to a very extraordinary year for me."
The former Suffolk Coastal MP was made a dame in July for political and public service - hours before losing her seat to new Labour MP Jenny Riddell-Carpenter.
During her time in Suffolk, she served as deputy Prime Minister during Liz Truss' 49-day stint in Downing Street.
The ex-health secretary was given honours by Rishi Sunak alongside former prime minister Theresa May, former transport secretary Chris Grayling, Sir Alok Sharma and Dame Eleanor Laing.
Ms Coffey added that she would be thinking through what her key priorities would be in the House of Lords and was looking forward to returning to Parliament.
Sue Gray, Sir Keir Starmer's former chief of staff and the partygate investigator, is among the new Labour peers which has been announced by Downing Street.
Other figures to have been appointed to the Lords include former Welsh first minister Carwyn Jones, Lyn Brown, Julie Elliott and Mark Pack.
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