Sajid Javid has said his immediate priority is to ease covid restrictions as he took over the UK Health Secretary, replacing disgraced Matt Hancock.
Javid is expected to make his first Commons statement since rejoining the Cabinet later on Monday, returning to the despatch box for the first time since he quit as chancellor in February last year.
Ahead of the appearance in front of MPs Javid declared there would be “no going back” on restrictions once they were ended.
He been urged to be the “voice of caution” on the pandemic by health bosses but his instinct, according to those who know him, is to open up the economy as soon as possible.
Who is Sajid Javid?
If he looks familiar it is be because the politician has been in cabinet before. Javid was Home Secretary under Theresa May and in 2019 was promoted to chancellor by Boris Johnson. He only lasted six months though, resigning in February 2020 when the Prime Minister’s adviser Dominic Cummings told him we would have to sack his Treasury advisers. Javid refused and quit for the backbenches, however he didn’t become a critic of the government.
What does he know about health?
Well, not a great deal. If Hancock was seen as “dove” in putting caution at the centre of covid policy Javid is seen as more of a”hawk” who could line up in cabinet with current chancellor Rishi Sunak to open up the economy swiftly. He is unlikely to announce any major changes in his first statement at the despatch box on Monday.
What does this mean for the Scottish lockdown?
The Scottish government will decide on ending covid restrictions in Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon is currently aiming for 9 August, a fortnight after the 19 July “freedom day” Johnson is targeting for England. However, an increased pace on easing lockdown in England could change the political tempo in Scotland or lead to tension over different restrictions applying in different parts of the UK.
Is he a safe pair of hands?
Javid was the safe go-to for Johnson, having lost Hancock overboard, but he now faces a huge task on containing the pandemic and addressing the challenges it has thrown up for the NHS in terms of deferred waiting lists, staff pay and the introduction of social care for the elderly in England.
He was a Remainer in the Brexit referendum, but a fairly right-wing one, and he knows how the Treasury works, so he brings an new dynamic to the balance of the Tory cabinet.
What’s he been doing since he was chancellor?
Staying quiet and working for JP Morgan bank. Javid was a wealthy, high-flying City financier before entering politics in 2010 as the MP for Bromsgrove.
He was born in Rochdale in 1969, one of five sons of parents who had moved to the UK from Pakistan.
His father came from a tiny village to work in a cotton mill in England and became a bus driver, the same job as another high-profile politician, Labour mayor of London Sadiq Khan.
“It’s always good to see former bus drivers’ sons doing well,” said Khan, replaying a compliment Javid paid him when he became mayor.
