Britain’s finance and health ministers resigned on Tuesday (July 5), in what looked to be the final blow for Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s premiership after he had tried to apologise for the latest scandal to dog his administration.
Both health minister Sajid Javid and finance minister Rishi Sunak resigned in what appeared to be a choreographed release of letters to the prime minister, in which both took aim at his ability to run an administration that adhered to standards.
The resignations came as Johnson was apologising for what he said was a mistake for not realising that a former minister in charge of pastoral care was unsuitable for a job in government after complaints of sexual misconduct were made against him.
Both had formerly publicly supported Johnson during months of scandal over his administration’s conduct and a damning report into parties at his Downing Street office and residence that broke strict COVID-19 lockdown rules.
“I have spoken to the Prime Minister to tender my resignation as Secretary of State for Health & Social Care,” Javid said on Twitter.
“It has been an enormous privilege to serve in this role, but I regret that I can no longer continue in good conscience.”
Javid became Britain’s health minister in July 2021, replacing Matt Hancock who stepped down after he was caught breaking COVID-19 rules by kissing his aide in his office.
Previously, Javid was appointed finance minister by Johnson in July 2019 but he quit in February 2020, becoming the shortest-serving chancellor of the exchequer since 1970.
At the time, Javid said he resigned because no “self-respecting minister” would accept Johnson’s demands to fire his political advisers.
His departure after 204 days as Chancellor of the Exchequer, the formal title of the finance minister, came less than a month before he was due to deliver his first budget.
Javid took up the role of health minister in July 2021, just before England scraped all remaining legal coronavirus restrictions.
Three weeks in to his tenure, Javid tested positive for COVID-19, but said his symptoms were mild and he was thankful to had been vaccinated.
By December of 2021, restrictions were re-introduced in England to control the spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, including working from home and mask-wearing in public places. The use of vaccine passes in some settings such as nightclubs and mass events was also brought in.
Javid has said he would never support mandatory vaccines.
The son of Pakistani Muslim immigrant parents, Javid cut his teeth early in finance, becoming a vice president at U.S. Chase Manhattan Bank at the age of 25.
During an almost 20 year career in banking, he also oversaw trading in debt instruments blamed for causing the global financial crisis.
In politics, his ascension was also swift. Elected to parliament in 2010, he became secretary of state for culture just four years later, putting him in charge of an entire government department.
He was later promoted to the interior ministry, one of the big offices of state.
Javid has been seen as a safe pair of hands who stirred few emotions among colleagues in the governing Conservative Party, and is a great admirer of former prime minister Margaret Thatcher. Her passion for free markets and low taxes seems to have rubbed off on a relatively shy man who, in contrast to his boss, is not known for his oratory.
He has also called for a big increase in public investment infrastructure projects, a policy more associated with the Labour opposition than his Conservative Party.
Some Brexit supporters are critical of his decision to back “Remain” in the 2016 EU referendum despite him previously describing himself as an eurosceptic.
(Reuters)