He moves from the post of education secretary, a role that has now been given to former universities minister Michelle Donelan. The resignations of Mr Sunak and fellow senior minister Sajid Javid have thrown the prime minister into a battle to stay in office amid questions over his handling of the controversy over MP Chris Pincher. Steve Barclay was appointed as Health Secretary, replacing Javid. He was previously chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and chief of staff at Downing Street. In his resignation letter, Mr Sunak said “the public rightly expects the government to behave properly, competently and seriously”, adding: “I believe these standards are worth fighting for and that is why I am stepping down.” ‘It’s all over’: Johnson fights for political life – political live update In the letter, posted on Twitter, the former chancellor said he could no longer remain loyal to the prime minister, who remains mired in scandal over Mr Pincher’s appointment to the role of deputy chief whip. Mr Pincher stepped down from the role last week after allegations he beat up two men at a private members’ club and Johnson was made aware of allegations against him as early as 2019. Mr Sunak, who is seen as a possible future leader of the Conservative Party, told the Prime Minister he was stepping down with “great sadness”, saying: “Leaving a ministerial post is a serious matter at any time. the world is suffering the economic consequences of the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and other serious challenges is a decision I did not take lightly. “However, people rightly expect government to be conducted properly, competently and seriously. I recognize that this may be my last ministerial job, but I believe these standards are worth striving for and that is why I am stepping down.” The prime minister acknowledged he should have sacked Mr Pincher when he was found to have behaved inappropriately when he was foreign secretary in 2019, but instead went on to appoint him to other government roles. However, the prime minister’s apology for appointing Mr Pincher to the role could not prevent the departures of Mr Sunak and Mr Javid, which came within minutes of each other. Mr Javid said the British people “expect integrity from their government” but voters now believed Johnson’s government was neither competent nor “acting in the national interest”.
Who is Nadhim Zahawi?
A long-time member of the Conservative Party, 55-year-old Nadhim Zahawi was appointed chancellor following the dramatic resignation of Rishi Sunak. Having served in various junior ministerial posts, his success as vaccine minister led to his promotion to education secretary in Boris Johnson’s latest reshuffle. Born in Baghdad to Iraqi Kurdish parents, Zahawi and his family fled Saddam Hussein to the UK when he was a child and has previously spoken of the extraordinary moment he watched his father on a plane trying to leave the country . the secret police came up the steps and he thought they were going to arrest him and take him away. He also talked about how he couldn’t read English at the age of 11. In May this year, he recalled being racially abused and dunked head first in a pool of bullies during his school days, telling Sky’s Sophy Ridge that it was “pretty horrible for a kid just coming into these coasts”. Mr Zahawi worked in the 1990s as an assistant to novelist and politician Jeffrey Archer, who was jailed for perjury in 2001. In 2000 he founded polling company YouGov and was its chief executive until 2010, turning the company into one of Britain’s leading market research firms. Mr Zahawi stood in the 2010 general election as the Conservative Party candidate for Stratford-upon-Avon and won. But the road to Westminster was not straightforward. He fought and lost two contests earlier that year in Devizes, and also in Suffolk Coastal – where he was beaten by his cabinet colleague Therese Coffey, the Work and Pensions Secretary. Despite representing Stratford for more than a decade, the MP said he was made to feel out of place. He told BBC Question Time in June 2020: “You still get casual racism every day. ‘He doesn’t exactly belong in Stratford-upon-Avon’. ‘He’s not from here’. Things like that. It’s hard for someone with a name like Zahawi who claims to be a born and bred Stratfordian, but still, I think things are getting better. There are a lot of people speaking out. Millions of people have come out and are saying ‘enough is enough, I can’t breathe’.” In a deeply personal speech in October last year, Mr Zahawi spoke of his own experiences of arriving in Britain as a child refugee and said the UK “took in a young Kurdish boy without a word of English and made him a minister”. . “Now it’s my turn to make sure the opportunities that changed my life are available to every child in every corner of our great country,” he said. Responding to Javid’s resignation, the prime minister told the former health secretary he was “sorry” to have received his letter and suggested his government would “continue to deliver” plans for the NHS. The twin resignations of Javid and Sunak mean Johnson’s position remains at risk, but cabinet ministers including Dominic Raab, Liz Truss, Michael Gove, Therese Coffey and Ben Wallace have said they will remain in government and continue to they support the Prime Minister. Losing crucial by-elections in Tiverton and Honiton and Wakefield in June prompted the resignation of party chairman Oliver Dowden last month. The position of Conservative Party chairman remains unfilled, as does the role of party deputy chairman following the departure of Bim Afolami, who resigned on live television on Tuesday night. The Prime Minister is also now hiring the fourth Downing Street chief of staff of his tenure, after appointing Mr Barclay as health secretary. A total of nine people left government posts on Tuesday, including two cabinet ministers, four parliamentary private secretaries, a vice president and two trade envoys. Use Chrome browser for more accessible video player 6:37 As pressure mounts on Boris Johnson, can he hold on to the top spot? The Prime Minister’s fate may ultimately rest with backbench MPs if the 1922 Tory Commission rules are changed to allow a new confidence vote within 12 months. Seven in 10 Britons say Boris Johnson should resign, according to a YouGov poll of more than 3,000 people. The prime minister narrowly survived a confidence vote last month, but suffered a rebellion bigger than Theresa May. Some 211 MPs voted in favor of the prime minister, against 148 votes against – a majority of 63. He needed a simple majority – 180 votes or more – to continue in office. The result meant that 59% of Conservative MPs supported Johnson, while 41% voted against him.
