What does Sajid Javid’s appointment mean for the UK’s Covid-19 policy?

The new Health Secretary is more sceptical of lockdown restrictions than Matt Hancock was.

LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 28: Sajid Javid, Chancellor of the Exchequer, leaves Downing Street on January 28, 2020 in London, England. Members of the National Security Council met to decide on whether to ban equipment made by Chinese technology giant Huawei from its 5G networks. (Photo by Peter Summers/Getty Images)

Sajid Javid, the new Health Secretary, is expected to confirm the 19 July reopening date in a statement to the House of Commons later today, as MPs return to Westminster following a weekend of high drama. In the wake of Matt Hancock’s resignation, attention has now turned to the impact that Javid’s return will have on the balance of power in Boris Johnson’s cabinet, with most in Westminster expecting a more hawkish approach to Covid restrictions from Javid compared to his predecessor.

The new Health Secretary said in May 2020 that he would favour “running the economy hot”. While his views may well be moderated by the health brief (rather than speaking as a former chancellor), the switch from a lockdown “dove” in Hancock to a hawkish Javid could have significant implications for border restrictions this summer and for the wider challenge of managing the virus this winter. That’s not to mention the tensions that could arise when Javid goes toe-to-toe with his successor as chancellor, Rishi Sunak, on social care funding.

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There are, meanwhile, more questions for the government to answer about the Hancock revelations. Labour is keen to highlight how Boris Johnson failed to sack Hancock in the first place, while Tory MPs are jittery about Johnson’s reply to Hancock’s resignation letter, fearing he needlessly burned political capital by indicating that Hancock would be welcome to return to the cabinet in future.

The biggest questions by far, however, remain those asked by the Sunday Times in February. How did Hancock come to appoint a “close friend” to a taxpayer-funded role in the Department of Health? Why was Gina Coladangelo’s parliamentary pass sponsored by James Bethell, a Tory peer and health minister, for whom she has never worked? And were the NHS contracts given to Coladangelo’s brother’s company properly awarded?

It took a photograph of an embrace on the front page of the Sun to give these questions the prominence they deserve. There is now a risk that, following Hancock’s resignation, interest in the answers has already died down.

Hear from the UK’s leading politicians on the most pressing policy questions facing the UK at NS Politics Live, in London. Speakers include Sir Keir Starmer, Ben Wallace, Lisa Nandy, Sajid Javid, Professor Sarah Gilbert, Jeremy Hunt, Layla Moran and Andrew Marr. Find out more about the New Statesman’s flagship event on the 28 June here.