Sajid Javid becomes first Home Secretary from ethnic minority background following Amber Rudd's resignation

Sajid Javid has become the first Home Secretary from a black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) background following the resignation of Amber Rudd.

Mr Javid was appointed by telephone by Theresa May the morning after Ms Rudd’s departure.

The MP for Bromsgrove had a high-flying career in the City as a managing director for Deutsche Bank before turning his hand to politics.

After rising swiftly through the ministerial ranks, Mr Javid has been tipped by some as a potential future leader.

Bus driver’s son

Mr Javid’s father, Abdul was a bus driver who arrived in Britain in 1961 from Pakistan with just £1 in his pocket, then earning the nickname “Mr Night and Day” because he worked all hours.

Mr Javid senior inspired a devotion to Margaret Thatcher in his son at the age of just 11.

“My dad lived through the winter of discontent and used to vote Labour, but switched to Thatcher, saying, ‘look how she’s sorting out the country’. I agreed,” he told the Mail on Sunday.

The family lived in Rochdale before moving to Bristol, where Mr Javid attended Downend School, a comprehensive, before going on to study politics and economics at Exeter University.

He embarked on a career in investment banking, and at the age of 25 he became the youngest vice-president at Chase Manhattan Bank and was later headhunted by Deutsche Bank.

He is reported to have earned up to £3 million a year in the City, and owns two multi-million-pound properties in London.

Anti-Brexit campaigner

Like his predecessor Amber Rudd, the new Home Secretary campaigned to remain in the EU in the run-up to the Brexit referendum.

Writing in the Telegraph in May 2016, Mr Javid argued vehemently in favour of the single market, and said that ‘the only thing leaving the EU guarantees is a lost decade for British business’.

But since the outcome of the referendum he has spoken out in favour of the Government’s Brexit position, last week tweeting that ‘Britain must leave CU and be able to negotiate & sign own trade deals.’

His appointment maintains the careful equilibrium between Brexiteers and Remainers in Theresa May’s cabinet.

Parliamentary career

The 48-year-old has said he turned from finance to politics to “give something back”.

Part of the 2010 parliamentary intake, he was soon made a member of the Work and Pensions Select Committee and his background in finance made him an obvious choice for a job under Chancellor George Osborne.

In 2012 he was appointed economic secretary to the Treasury within two years he became Culture Secretary.

In 2015, he was made Business Secretary and Theresa May gave him the job of Communities Secretary when she became Prime Minister the following year.

Voting record

Mr Javid’s voting record in the Commons indicates a hard-line approach to immigration.

During his time in Parliament he has consistently voted in favour of a stricter asylum system and almost always voted for stronger enforcement if immigration rules.

He has never rebelled against the Conservative Party during the current Government.

Speaking this morning, Mr Javid said his “most urgent” task is to make sure people caught up in the Windrush fiasco are treated with the “decency and fairness” they deserve.

He was replaced as Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government by former Northern Ireland secretary James Brokenshire, who has recently returned to Westminster after treatment for cancer.

The 48-year-old MP for Bromsgrove made no comment on his appointment as he emerged from 10 Downing Street after being briefed by officials. Mrs May was not present, as she was making a local election visit.

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• Sajid Javid appointed Home Secretary following Amber Rudd’s resignation

Ms Rudd became the fifth departure from the Cabinet since last year’s snap general election, after admitting she had “inadvertently” misled MPs over the existence of targets for removing illegal immigrants.

The Hastings and Rye MP stepped down the evening before she was due to make a statement in the House of Commons on the targets and illegal migration, as she faced increasing pressure over the handling of the Windrush scandal.

International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt is to take on Ms Rudd’s former responsibilities as Minister for Women and Equalities, Downing Street announced.