Sajid Javid named as Matt Hancock’s replacement in surprise return – Queen gives blessing
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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.”
Mr Javid had previously served as Chancellor under Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
But he resigned last year after he refused to sack his political advisers – as demanded by Mr Johnson.
The appointment of Mr Javid as Health Secretary comes just over an hour after Mr Hancock resigned from the role following mounting pressure.
In his resignation letter to the Prime Minister, Mr Hancock said: “The last thing I would want is for my private life to distract attention from the single-minded focus that is leading us out of this crisis.
“I want to reiterate my apology for breaking the guidance, and apologise to my family and loved ones for putting them through this. I also need to be with my children at this time.”
He added: “We owe it to people who have sacrificed so much in this pandemic to be honest when we have let them down as I have done by breaching the guidance.”
The outgoing Health Secretary also paid tribute to NHS staff and Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) officials, whilst admitting: “We didn’t get every decision right.”
But he said: “I know people understand how hard it is to deal with the unknown, making the difficult trade-off between freedom, prosperity and health that we have faced.”
In a video announcing his resignation on Twitter, Mr Hancock said: “I understand the enormous sacrifices that everybody in this country has made, you have made.
“And those of us who make these rules have got to stick by them and that’s why I’ve got to resign.”
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