Sajid Javid is new Home Minister

A South Asian will head Britain’s Home Office for the first time as the government sought to contain an escalating crisis over its treatment of Commonwealth citizens and its tough immigration regime more widely.

Sajid Javid, the son of a bus driver who emigrated to Britain from Pakistan, is a former banker and MD at Deutsche Bank, who became an MP in 2009 and a Cabinet Minister in 2014.

He has been Britain’s Minister in charge of Communities and Local government since 2016, remaining in the Cabinet despite his clear ‘pro-Remain’ stance in the run-up to the Brexit referendum. He is also the first South Asian to head one of the “Great Offices of state”, the name given to the four most senior positions in the government (also including Prime Minister, head of the Treasury and head of the Foreign office).