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Health secretary Sajid Javid and chancellor of the exchequer Rishi Sunak have both resigned on Tuesday (July 5) after a slew of scandals undermined the government of prime minister Boris Johnson. Javid and Sunak sent resignation letters to Johnson within minutes of each other in which both took aim at his ability to run an administration that adhered to standards. The resignations came as Johnson was apologising for appointing a lawmaker to a role involved in offering pastoral care, even after being briefed that the politician had been the subject of complaints about sexual misconduct. In his resignation letter to Johnson, Javid said "it is clear to me that this situation will not change under your leadership - and you have therefore lost my confidence too". He was appointed to lead the Department of Health and Social Care in June 2021, when his predecessor Matt Hancock quit after being caught having an affair with an adviser, in breach of social distancing guidelines.

Boris Johnson has picked Steve Barclay as the new health secretary following the resignation of Sajid Javid, who stepped down on July 5 after saying he had lost faith in prime minister's leadership. Barclay - who had served as chief of staff of the prime minister since February 2022 - was previously a junior health minister in 2018, responsible for NHS workforce and finance, before serving as Brexit secretary, chief secretary to the Treasury, and chancellor of the duchy. He is the fourth health secretary after Jeremy Hunt, Matt Hancock and Sajid Javid in the past five years. In a statement on his appointment, Barclay said it was "an honour" to be take up the position, adding: "Our NHS and social care staff have showed us time and again - throughout the pandemic and beyond - what it means to work with compassion and dedication to transform lives. "This government is investing more than ever before in our NHS and care services to beat the Covid-19 backlogs, recruit 50,000 more nurses, reform social care and ensure patients across the country can access the care they need."