Former Chancellor and Home Secretary Sajid Javid will replace Matt Hancock as Health Secretary

Former Chancellor and Home Secretary Sajid Javid will replace Matt Hancock as Health Secretary, Downing Street has announced.

The news came less than two hours after Matt Hancock announced his resignation from the position following the emergence of video footage showing him kissing an aide in his ministerial office in a breach of coronavirus restrictions.

Mr Javid resigned as Chancellor of the Exchequer in 2020 after he fell out of favour with Prime Minister Boris Johnson in February, when he was replaced by the current incumbent, Rishi Sunak – who was previously Mr Javid’s deputy.

Javid’s resignation came after Mr Johnson tried to sack his entire team in 2019, and amid rumours of a tumultuous relationship with Johnson’s former senior adviser Dominic Cummings, who himself resigned in November last year.

But despite their stormy relationship, Mr Javid has returned to the Prime Minister’s cabinet after over a year in the cold as an emergency replacement for Mr Hancock, who resigned at around 6pm on Saturday night.

Javid’s appointment was announced less than two hours later, at around 7.50 pm. 

Former Chancellor and Home Secretary Sajid Javid (pictured) will replace Matt Hancock as Health Secretary, Downing Street has announced

After initially refusing to resign, Mr Hancock wrote a letter of resignation to Boris Johnson on Saturday in which he said the Government ‘owe it to people who have sacrificed so much in this pandemic to be honest when we have let them down’.

It later come to light that the Health Secretary told his wife, Martha, that he would be leaving her on Thursday night – immediately after discovering that his affair with Gina Coladangelo was about to be laid bare.

Images and video showed Mr Hancock in an embrace with aide Ms Coladangelo last month, and the Health Secretary was facing increasing pressure to quit over the breaking of social-distancing rules.

Mr Hancock added: ‘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.’

The Prime Minister said he was ‘sorry’ to receive Mr Hancock’s resignation as Health Secretary, adding he ‘should leave office very proud of what you have achieved – not just in tackling the pandemic, but even before Covid-19 struck us’.

Boris Johnson continued: ‘I am grateful for your support and believe that your contribution to public service is far from over.’

Ms Coladangelo is also reportedly leaving her position on the board of the Department of Health.

Mr Johnson had refused to sack Mr Hancock, with his spokesman saying the PM considered the matter closed after receiving the West Suffolk MP’s apology on Friday. 

More to follow…