In the latest in a long line of cabinet positions, Sajid Javid has become the United Kingdom’s first BAME Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.
After resigning as Boris Johnson’s Chancellor of the Exchequer in February of 2020, Sajid Javid worked with a number of organisations to tackle the problem of child sexual abuse in the UK. He worked with the Centre for Social Justice to lead an inquiry into the issue and expressed his concerns about how national lockdowns were leading to a surge in child sexual abuse cases.
Sajid Javid has, in the past, received death threats and hate mail concerning his Muslim heritage, despite he himself being non-practicing. Undaunted by these threats, Sajid Javid has been a spearhead for the BAME community in government, becoming the first British Asian Home Secretary and first British Asian Chancellor of the Exchequer.
In his first update to the house as Health Secretary, Sajid Javid announced that “the restrictions on our freedoms must come to an end” and that he sees “no reason” for them not to end on the 19th of July. Javid’s first priority will now be to guide the UK out of the Covid 19 Pandemic and rebuild the NHS as it recovers from the wave of hospitalisations earlier in the year.
Sajid Javid’s appointment as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care highlights the Conservative Party’s values and commitment to diversity in politics – whilst Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner confused Mr Javid with Sadiq Khan.