FORMER Chancellor Sajid Javid has said he is "honoured" to replace Matt Hancock as Health Secretary after the MP quit in disgrace over an affair with his aide.
The highly-experienced politician and ex Home Secretary has been described as a "ready made" minister as Boris Johnson's government battles the pandemic.
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As well as overseeing the Government's response to Covid-19, he will be tasked with devising reforms to the funding and provision of social care.
His appointment was announced shortly before 8pm - less than two hours after Hancock resigned over an affair with his senior aide.
Mr Javid tweeted tonight: "Honoured to have been asked to serve as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care at this critical time.
"I look forward to contributing to our fight against the pandemic, and serving my country from the Cabinet once again."
Javid's new role sees him return to a Cabinet he abruptly left in shock fashion some 16 months ago.
He was just six months into his role as chancellor, and less than a month away from delivering his first Budget, when he quit after being told he must sack all his advisers if he wanted to keep his job.
His departure in February last year came after a bruising Whitehall power struggle with Boris Johnson's then chief adviser Dominic Cummings.
Carrie Symonds, the Prime Minister's wife, who previously clashed with Mr Cummings, was once a special adviser to Mr Javid during his tenure as communities secretary.
Mr Javid's previous showdown with Boris Johnson reached a climax when he refused to dismiss his team of aides and replace them with a joint No 10/No 11 unit.
In a Commons statement, Mr Javid said chancellors had to be able to "speak truth to power" and "the arrangement proposed would significantly inhibit that, and it would not have been in the national interest".
He also took a swipe at Mr Cummings, who has been blasting the Government's pandemic performance since leaving No 10.
Javid, 51, has been the Conservative MP for Bromsgrove since 2010.
He was born in Rochdale, Lancs, as one of five sons. His mother and bus driver father had moved here from Pakistan in the 1960s.
On April 30, 2018, he was appointed Home Secretary after Amber Rudd was forced to quit in the wake of the Windrush scandal.
He was the first person from an ethnic minority to hold one of the top four positions in government (the others being Prime Minister, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Foreign Secretary).
It comes as...
- Matt Hancock announced he was resigning almost 48 hours after his affair with his aide was exposed
- The Health Secretary told his wife he was leaving her as the affair was revealed
- Gina Coladangelo has left her position on the Department of Health board after the affair with Hancock
- Read Matt Hancock's resignation letter in full
- Boris Johnson told Hancock 'you should be proud of what you've achieved' as he accepted his resignation
Javid and his wife Laura have four children. He has received hate mail for marrying a non-Muslim even though he says he does not practise any religion.
The Department of Health and Social Care will be the sixth government department that Mr Javid has run, after previous posts as chancellor, home secretary, housing secretary, business secretary and culture secretary.
A statement from 10 Downing Street said: "The Queen has been pleased to approve the appointment of the Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care."
Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt described Sajid Javid's appointment to the role as an "excellent choice".
Mr Hunt, now chairman of the Commons' Health Select Committee, tweeted: "I worked closely w/him 4 many years & found him smart, decent &(perhaps rarely in the trade) 100% full of integrity.
"Best poss news 4 social care:he 'gets it' from his time at DCLG (Department for Communities and Local Government) &as an ex-Chllr (Chancellor) will negotiate formidably with HMT (Her Majesty's Treasury)."
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, whose father, like Mr Javid's, was a bus driver, tweeted: "Always good to see the children of bus drivers do well! Congrats @sajidjavid on your appointment as Health Secretary.
"Look forward to working together to protect our communities from this awful pandemic, get London vaccinated and continue opening up our city and country safely."
Pat Cullen, acting general secretary and chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing, said: "Sajid Javid must hit the ground running.
"With the unrelenting pressure on the nursing workforce, their role in protecting the nation during the pandemic and role delivering the vaccination programme, we expect to meet with urgency.
"Javid's immediate priority must be tackling the shortage of nursing staff and paying them fairly for their highly-skilled and safety-critical work."
Hancock resigned after humiliating and intimate footage of his romantic clinch with a senior aide in his office was published by The Sun.
Hancock quit amid mounting pressure from colleagues over images of him kissing and cuddling Gina Coladangelo in a clear breach of coronavirus restrictions.
He finally fell on his sword admitting he had "let down" the millions who had made painful personal sacrifices during the pandemic.
Support for the minister had been dwindling after it emerged he told his wife he was leaving her on Thursday shortly after he learned that his affair with married Coladangelo was about to be exposed.
Martha Hancock had no idea her husband was having an affair until he broke the news and announced that their marriage was over,
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Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was "sorry" to receive Hancock's resignation.
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He said Hancock "should leave office very proud of what you have achieved - not just in tackling the pandemic, but even before Covid-19 struck us".
He added: "I am grateful for your support and believe that your contribution to public service is far from over."