Sajid Javid is back in the frame to replace Theresa May

Sajid Javid is back in the frame to replace Theresa May

For much of May's premiership Sajid Javid has been a Cabinet minister on the sidelines.

A protege of George Osborne, he was demoted in the first May reshuffle, moved from the business department to local government.

In subsequent reshuffles there were always whispers that she might let him go. He hung on, but was very much out of favour and overlooked - until now.

His promotion to Home Secretary marks a big change in his fortunes and it is a smart appointment.

Mrs May might have had more obvious Cabinet allies in Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley, her predecessor James Brokenshire and party chair Brandon Lewis.


But it would have been dangerous to put someone in to clean up Windrush who had worked in the department when that policy was being implemented. Mr Javid doesn't have any of that baggage.

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Image: Theresa May demoted Mr Javid in her first reshuffle

As a second-generation migrant, he brings empathy to a department that has been badly damaged by its inhumane treatment of the Windrush generation.

His background makes him the perfect frontman to begin righting those wrongs. His appointment as culture secretary in 2014 made him the first of the 2010 intake to make it into Cabinet.

Now the son of a bus driver has been tipped for leadership.

But recent years have been hard for him. He pitched himself as a reluctant remainer during the EU referendum only to find himself isolated after Mr Osborne and David Cameron quit.

Image: Amber Rudd was forced out over immigration rows

He and Stephen Crabb briefly ran for the leadership - Mr Crabb as leader, Mr Javid as Chancellor - but they didn't make it past the first round.

And once the May era began, his contemporaries Ms Rudd and then Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson sailed past him in the cabinet hierarchy.

But Mr Javid has quietly been working his way back up. He is judged in government to have handled the Grenfell Tower crisis well - a terrible situation which could have easily demanded a Cabinet scalp.

And on housing, he has lobbied tirelessly behind closed doors to kick-start house building, demonstrating to the public that he is with them even if the political appetite for radical change doesn't exist in the Treasury or Number 10.

His promotion today now puts him firmly back in play to replace Mrs May as Prime Minister.

Cleaning up Windrush will be a big test for him.

But if he succeeds where Ms Rudd has failed, he has the opportunity to position himself as a credible alternative to Mrs May.