It was, as ever, the child of an immigrant who did the entirely necessary job that no one else wanted to do. Sajid Javid’s resignation as health secretary on Tuesday evening precipitated a torrent of departures that ultimately led to the end of Boris Johnson’s premiership.
Power may be addictive but, as Javid noted in his resignation speech in the Commons yesterday, “at some point we have to conclude enough is enough”.
Political resignations tend to fall into three camps: resignations on grounds of principle and policy, self-interest and self-awareness. Some of the most politically significant resignations in recent history have been due to policy disagreements, but Javid’s resignation was motivated by principle.
It was driven by his frustration with the lack of Johnson’s lack of integrity — and self-interest, the hope that he might be a leadership contender. I suspect that part of why it was him who found the courage to start the collapse of the house of cards lies in family history. Javid’s late father, Abdul Ghani, arrived from Pakistan in 1962 and worked as a bus driver.
His was not a childhood that would appear to be fertile territory for a Conservative, but Javid subverted expectations and became a fervent fan of Margaret Thatcher. He later became a successful banker despite not having the typical public school education or background associated with the industry. And when it came to getting married he again flouted expectations by falling in love with and marrying a white non-Muslim woman. The common characteristic that all those decisions shared was a willingness to make difficult decisions based on principles and ambition.
There is a stark contrast between the likes of Javid — who resigned on grounds of principle twice from the Cabinet — and Boris Johnson who refused for so long to quit.
Johnson is not blessed with such self-awareness and it is hard not to speculate how much of this is related to class and the privileges of a private education: an inflated sense of self-confidence and entitlement that acts first as a superpower fuelling ascent but ultimately causes their downfall.It requires ambition to reach the top, but wisdom to know when to quit. Johnson has resigned and history will record that it was Javid who precipitated the end game. He took the harder path, paid the price and may yet reap the reward.
