Sajid Javid Is Standing Down At The Next Election
Sajid Javid has announced he will not seek re-election as the MP for Bomsgrove (Parliament.UK)
3 min read
Former chancellor and long-serving Cabinet minister Sajid Javid has confirmed he will not stand again at the next election.
The MP for Bromsgrove is the latest high-profile Conservative who has announced they are quitting Parliament.
"After much reflection I have decided that I will not be standing again at the next General Election," Javid tweeted on Friday morning, ahead of Monday's deadline for Tory MPs to confirm whether they wish to run at the next election. He said the date had "accelerated" his decision.
“Serving as the Member of Parliament for Bromsgrove remains an incredible privilege, and I will continue to support the Government and the causes I believe in.”
The 52-year-old, who first entered the Commons in 2010, said that serving in government was "the privilege of my life".
"I can only hope my best was sufficient," he added.
Javid has held six different secretary of state roles under three prime ministers, most recently as health secretary. He has also led departments for culture, business, local goverment, the Home Office and the Treasury.
Born in Rochdale to a Pakistani immigrant family, Javid was a successful banker before being selected as the candidate in the safe Tory constituency in Worcestershire after the retirement of the sitting MP Julie Kirkbride.
After just two years he was made a Treasury minister by David Cameron, before entering Cabinet in 2014 as the Culture Secretary.
He had a stint as Business Secretary before being appointed as Local Government Secretary when Theresa May became prime minister in 2016, which he served as for two years before taking over from Amber Rudd as Home Secretary when she resigned over the Windrush scandal in 2018.
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The former chancellor Sajid Javid said he "can only hope my best was sufficient" as he steps down as an MP
After May quit a year later he made the first of his two attempts to become Tory leader, but lost out to Boris Johnson – however the silver lining was a promotion to Chancellor, but he was out of No 11 less than a year later as a result of a row over merging his team of special advisers with the No 10 team next door.
In summer 2021, Javid was promoted from the backbenches to health secretary after Matt Hancock was forced to resign over breaking his own Covid rules while having an affair with an aide.
Javid held the position until July this year, when he and Rishi Sunak – who had replaced him as Chancellor – announced they were both standing down from the Cabinet within minutes of each other, triggering a wave of resignations that led to Johnson leaving Downing Street days later.
He launched a second leadership bid to replace Johnson but withdrew after failing to gather enough support. He backed the eventual winner Liz Truss, but was not rewarded with a job and returned to the backbenches.
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