Sajid Javid ‘honoured’ to be new Health Secretary after Matt Hancock resignation

Sajid Javid is the new health secretary, in a dramatic return to the cabinet for the former chancellor who quit in a clash with Dominic Cummings.

Boris Johnson moved quickly to fill the post – with the pandemic ongoing – after the resignation of Matt Hancock for breaking Covid rules.

Jeremy Hunt and Michael Gove were tipped to replace Mr Hancock, but the prime minister has instead turned to Mr Javid after a healing of relations between the pair, following Mr Cummings’s departure last year.

The appointment of a backbencher avoids the need for a wider reshuffle.