Sajid Javid: the man stepping in to lead UK’s pandemic battle

He resigned as chancellor after clash with Prime Minister Boris Johnson over hiring staff

Sajid Javid is greeted by Boris Johnson in 2019. EPA

Conservative Party heavyweight Sajid Javid has been named as the UK's new Health Secretary after Matt Hancock was forced to quit the role for breaking Covid rules.

A former chancellor of the exchequer, Mr Javid steps in as the government tries to bring an end to coronavirus restrictions despite a rise in infections fuelled by the Delta variant of the virus.

He returns to the Cabinet more than a year after losing a power struggle with Prime Minister Boris Johnson's former adviser Dominic Cummings, who criticised the government recently.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson looks through a microscope during a visit to a lab at The National Institute for Biological Standards in South Mimms. Getty Images

People queue outside a mass vaccination centre for those aged 18 and over at the London Stadium. Reuters

People inside the stone circle during Summer Solstice at Stonehenge. The prehistoric monument of ancient stones have been officially closed for the celebrations due to the coronavirus lockdown, but groups of people ignored the lockdown. AP Photo

Members of the public walk past shops in Kendal in Cumbria, where surge testing has been deployed following an outbreak of a coronavirus variant of concern. AFP

A person receives a dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine at a mass vaccination centre at the London Stadium. Reuters

First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon receives her second dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine at the NHS Louisa Jordan vaccine centre in Glasgow. AP Photo

Anti-vaccine protestors gather outside a mass vaccination centre at the London Stadium. Reuters

Members of the public queue to enter a temporary Covid-19 testing centre set up a car park in Kendal in Cumbria. AFP

Medical staff work inside the mass vaccination centre at the London Stadium. Reuters

A person receives a dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, in London. Reuters

People enter a Covid-19 vaccination centre in London. EPA

Mr Javid was one of the contenders for the Conservative leadership in 2019. That contest  was eventually won by Mr Johnson.

He subsequently became chancellor, the UK equivalent of finance minister, but resigned last year after a clash with Mr Johnson over the hiring of departmental aides.

Mr Javid said he had no option but to resign after he was ordered to replace his political advisers.

"I was unable to accept those conditions. I don't believe any self-respecting minister would accept such conditions," he said.

It followed reports of clashes between Mr Javid and Mr Cummings, who was then Mr Johnson's top adviser.

Mr Cummings was himself ousted in November amid a power struggle in the Prime Minister's Downing Street office, which was rumoured to involve Mr Johnson's wife, Carrie Johnson.

Mr Cummings suggested on Saturday that Mrs Johnson was behind Mr Javid's return to the government.

He claimed that he had "tricked" Mr Johnson into removing Mr Javid, whom he described as "bog standard" and "awful" for the National Health Service.

Mr Javid said his top priority now was to bring about a "return to normal" in the UK.

"We are still in a pandemic and I want to see that come to an end as soon as possible," he said.

High-flying family 

Mr Javid’s Pakistani parents arrived in the UK in 1961, where his father worked as a bus driver in Rotherham, northern England before setting up his clothing business, Scallywags, in Bristol.

The middle sibling of five children, he acknowledges his Muslim heritage but does not practise a religion.

His brother Basit is deputy assistant commissioner at London’s Metropolitan Police; Atif is a property entrepreneur and Khalid is the founder of property finance firm Blackstone Financial Solutions.

The eldest brother Tariq, 52, was found dead in a Sussex hotel in 2018 having taken his own life. Tariq had been a successful retail entrepreneur.

Mr Javid has spoken of his personal memories of racial abuse as a child.

He graduated from the University of Exeter with a degree in economics and politics in 1991 as the first of his family to attend university.

He had a successful career in the upper echelons of the financial sector, starting with a spell at New York’s Chase Manhattan bank.

On his return to Britain, he worked at Deutsche Bank International, rising to the board of directors.

He was elected MP for Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, in 2010. He is married and has four children.