Rochdale-born politician Sajid Javid appointed first BAME Home Secretary, replacing Amber Rudd

Rochdale-born politician Sajid Javid has been appointed the new Home Secretary following Amber Rudd’s resignation, it was announced on Monday (30 April).

Theresa May announced the former Secretary of State’s appointment after Ms Rudd resigned on Sunday, after admitting she had ‘inadvertently misled’ Parliament over illegal immigrant removals targets.

Mr Javid said: “It is a huge privilege to be asked by the Prime Minister to become the new Home Secretary. My first priority is to make sure the home office does all it can to keep British people safe. It is a huge responsibility and something I take very, very seriously.

“The most urgent task I have is to help those British citizens here that came from the Caribbean and make sure they are all treated with the decency and fairness they deserve.”

Ms Rudd had recently faced growing criticism over her handling of the Windrush scandal and immigration policy. She resigned after The Guardian leaked a document, claiming she knew about removal targets that she had earlier claimed didn’t exist. A day after denying the existence of such targets, Ms Rudd admitted they did exist but was not told about them.

Most of the Windrush Generation came from African and Caribbean countries under a rule allowing freedom of movement within the Commonwealth. Many of them never registered for a passport as they travelled on their parents’ documents.

Now they are at risk of deportation, as they have no documents proving their status in the UK. As the Home Office didn’t record details of each individual, those who didn’t get documents are having a difficult time to prove they are here legally.

Mr Javid told the Sunday Telegraph the Windrush scandal felt "very personal" to him, coming from a family of immigrants. His father, Abdul, a bus driver, came to the UK from Pakistan in 1961, reportedly with just £1 in his pocket. He settled in Rochdale, where Mr Javid, born in 1969, and his four brothers were born.

Mr Javid is the first BAME (black, Asian and minority ethnic) politician to hold the role, previously holding roles as Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Minister for Equalities and Financial Secretary to the Treasury.

The MP for Bromsgrove in Worcestershire since 2010, Mr Javid is regarded as one of the Conservatives' fastest-rising stars. He attended state schools and won a place at Exeter University, studying economics and politics. 

Mr Javid, who has four children of his own, tells of how his father was a Labour supporter until the "winter of discontent" of 1978-9, later becoming a supporter of Mrs Thatcher. 

Similarly inspired by what he saw as a turnaround in the country's fortunes under the Conservatives, Mr Javid joined the party in 1988.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid said: "First to say it is a huge privilege to be asked by the Prime Minister to become the next Home Secretary. My first priority is to make sure the Home Office always does all it can to keep British people safe. It is a huge privilege and something I take very seriously. The most urgent task I have is to help those British citizens who came from the Caribbean, the Windrush generation, and make sure they are all treated with the decency and fairness they deserve. That is what people want to see and my most urgent task. I will help the Home Office every day to deal with its major tasks of tackling crime, including serious crime, fighting terrorism and extremism, and dealing with illegal immigration. In doing that I am really privileged to have a fantastic group of people here, the staff here, who together will work to make our country even stronger.

"We are going to have a strategy in place that actually does something the previous Home Secretary set out last week in her statement to Parliament about making sure we have an immigration policy that is fair and treats people with respect and with decency. That will be one of my most urgent tasks, to make sure that we look carefully at the policy and make sure it achieves just that.

"I think for anyone to see their child grow and become Home Secretary, all parents would be really pleased with that. My parents came to our country in the 1960s from Pakistan to help build this country. I think for them to see one of their sons arise to this great office of State - I am sure they would be very proud. But I have not called my mum yet and I will do that later when you give me a moment."