Social Solidarity Minister Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca initially turned down the Prime Minister’s offer to become Malta’s ninth President.

She only started to reconsider when Joseph Muscat expressed a willingness and disposition to open up the role’s remit.

In an interview with The Sunday Times of Malta she admits the offer initially saddened her because she was imagining a more “ceremonial, restricted” position but is now looking forward to exploring the potential of her new position.

The news took many people by surprise and few could understand why the Prime Minister would choose to lose one of his most popular ministers.

Several theories have popped up, but the one that seemed to stick was that Dr Muscat was booting his most conservative Cabinet member upstairs.

This is a label Ms Coleiro Preca shuns: “I object to being branded a conservative.

“I’m assuming I’m being pigeon-holed because I was against divorce [in the 2011 referendum], but my sole interest then was the impact it would have on the children.”

On the contrary, she insists that she has “always been a reformist and a fighter for human rights.

“I have always been, and will continue to be, a voice for the vulnerable in society.”