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Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid: big hitters who quit UK government

Sunak, 42, had been on a meteoric trajectory to power that could have made him Britain's first Hindu prime minister.

AFP
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London, United Kingdom
Wed, July 6, 2022 Published on Jul. 6, 2022 Published on 2022-07-06T09:18:31+07:00

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In this file photo taken on September 07, 2021 Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson (center), Britain's Health Secretary Sajid Javid (left) and Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak attend a press conference inside the Downing Street Briefing Room in central London. Britain's finance minister Rishi Sunak and Health Minister Sajid Javid both on July 5, 2022, announced their resignations, as Prime Minister Boris Johnson came under fire for his handling of a sleaze scandal involving a senior colleague.
In this file photo taken on September 07, 2021 Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson (center), Britain's Health Secretary Sajid Javid (left) and Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak attend a press conference inside the Downing Street Briefing Room in central London. Britain's finance minister Rishi Sunak and Health Minister Sajid Javid both on July 5, 2022, announced their resignations, as Prime Minister Boris Johnson came under fire for his handling of a sleaze scandal involving a senior colleague. (AFP/Toby Melville)

R

ishi Sunak and Sajid Javid were two of the biggest hitters in UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government until they quit on Tuesday in protest at his scandal-hit leadership.

Sunak, 42, had been on a meteoric trajectory to power that could have made him Britain's first Hindu prime minister.

Javid, 10 years Sunak's senior and also with a past career in high finance, was his immediate predecessor, and a polished political performer.

But they resigned within minutes of each other, just as Johnson apologised for his handling of a sleaze scandal engulfing one of his senior colleagues.

The resignations -- after a succession of crises that led to a vote of confidence in Johnson's leadership -- did nothing to dampen speculation that both men still have an eye on the top job.

Rishi Sunak 

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Sunak was barely known to the British public when Johnson made him chancellor of the exchequer in February 2020, after only five years in Conservative politics following a lucrative career in hedge funds.

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