Sajid Javid

Sajid Javid, son of a bus driver, was born in Rochdale. Aged 14, Javid took out a £500 bank loan to invest in shares, precipitating his 18-year banking career. At Deutsche Bank, he rose through the ranks to become head of credit trading equity convertibles, commodities and private equity businesses in Asia. As an MP, Javid served as PPS to further education minister John Hayes and later to Chancellor George Osborne. In 2012, he became economic secretary, and later financial secretary to the Treasury. Javid joined the cabinet in 2014 as culture secretary, and later became business secretary. He was the first British Pakistani MP to lead a department. Although Javid was a known eurosceptic, he backed Remain in 2016. Javid became communities and local government secretary in 2016 and, in 2018, home secretary. His agenda included making medical cannabis available on the NHS. Controversially, he revoked Shamima Begum’s British citizenship after her involvement with so-called Islamic State group. Javid stood unsuccessfully in the Conservative leadership election in 2019. He subsequently served as chancellor for seven months. Javid has consistently supported foreign military intervention and is recognised as a neoconservative, regularly speaking at the American Enterprise Institute.