People will say he was self-serving – but the Sajid Javid I know doesn’t work that way

No cabinet minister was expected to resign in protest at Boris Johnson’s mismanagement of government. We have all become so numb to the endless stories about poor standards and lack of propriety that Sajid Javid’s departure from government was a real bolt from the blue.

In a world of grey areas, here was decisive action. In his resignation letter, the former health secretary said he “can no longer, in good conscience, continue serving in this government”. I can’t imagine this would have been an easy thing for him to do, but it is obvious to me in retrospect that he – of all people –would be the one to say “enough is enough”.

I worked closely with him as his adviser for more than five years in government. In that time, he served under two prime ministers and moved assuredly through the cabinet to the great offices of state – an amazing achievement for a boy from Bristol who was never expected to amount to much.

His background, in many ways, sets him apart – not just from the experience of many of his colleagues, but critically: that of the prime minister. They are absolute opposites. Javid was not privately educated, he was not part of a set that would go from one esteemed institution to another, he did not believe he was owed anything. Everything he has, he worked hard for. For someone with first-hand experience of poverty and hardship – who went into public life to give something back – watching the disintegration of the platform he once hoped would do good must have been testing.

No politician is perfect. There are plenty of people who will find fault with him – but he can never be accused of not being straightforward. There will of course be detractors who believe that he’s made a self-serving decision, but the Javid I know doesn’t operate in this way. He’s said and done many unpopular things – because he believed them. I distinctly recall an incident where he called out Donald Trump on Twitter for endorsing hard-right “fake news”. It was not regarded as the diplomatic thing to do – or indeed proper, given his position – but it was the right thing.

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Perhaps it is the sense of privilege that comes with encountering the establishment as an outsider that has an impact. Serving your country is an immense honour, which is somewhat diminished when much of your time is spent defending illegal parties – and the PM’s questionable personal choices. Your in-tray is filling up, but you have to spend time worrying about whether a person can indeed be “ambushed” by a cake.

The news cycle will move on – and whether this has any impact on Johnson and his tenure in No 10 remains to be seen. But this decision could not have been taken lightly. Javid, by his own admission, is a team player – he’s resigned once before, as chancellor in February 2020, to pave the way for Rishi Sunak to succeed him – before returning last year as health secretary. His decisions reflect his integrity, not his ambition. He came back to serve in government because he felt he could make a difference.

He has not given up a cabinet post because it no longer holds any allure, but because it’s so important that it can’t be done half-heartedly. It doesn’t matter that the PM won’t resign even though key members of his cabinet can no longer support him – because at least someone finally took a stand.

Acknowledging the difference between right and wrong is a start – and, perhaps, even the beginning of the end.