Sajid Javid resigns as Chancellor as Cabinet reshuffle descends into war

The Chancellor threw a hand grenade into Boris Johnson's Cabinet reshuffle just 27 days before the Budget as he quit his job - when No10 ordered him to sack his team of aides

Sajid Javid has resigned as Boris Johnson's Cabinet reshuffle spun out of his control and descended into war.

The Chancellor was replaced by No10-loyal junior Rishi Sunak in a huge Downing Street power grab after he issued the bombshell announcement. It followed furious rows over policy and control with the PM's top team, including No10 aide Dominic Cummings.

Mr Javid had been set to keep his job - but he quit as Chancellor this lunchtime when Number 10 ordered him to sack his team of aides, a source close to the former minister said.

In a shock move just 27 days before the Budget, Mr Javid announced "no self-respecting minister" could accept the condition being imposed.

It is thought to be the first time a Chancellor has resigned in protest for 31 years after Nigel Lawson quit under Margaret Thatcher in 1989.

His resignation makes Mr Javid the shortest-serving Chancellor for 50 years - and the last one only left the job because he died.

Now that he has left, it's understood there will be a major No10 power grab - with Downing Street appointing a joint team of policy advisors for both the PM's office and the Chancellor.

"The idea is joint working will mean there shouldn’t be a cigarette paper between us on levelling up and domestic agenda," a No10 source said.

Mr Javid has clashed with 10 Downing Street over High Speed 2, which he backs, along with changes to his Budget and the brutal sacking of his key aide Sonia Khan by No10 chief Dominic Cummings.

A source close to Mr Javid confirmed: "He has turned down the job of Chancellor of the Exchequer.

"The Prime Minister said he had to fire all his special advisers and replace them with Number 10 special advisers to make it one team.

"The Chancellor said no self-respecting minister would accept those terms."

He spent far longer than expected in what journalists thought was a routine appointment to keep his job this morning.

Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell said: "This must be a historical record with the government in crisis after just over two months in power. Dominic Cummings has clearly won the battle to take absolute control of the Treasury and install his stooge as Chancellor.”

FDA civil service union chief Dave Penman said: "Cabinet government requires strong competing forces to be effective. I’m not sure that’s what’s being signalled today.

"Ministers need special advisers they can trust, not No10 narks keeping tabs on them. This has broader implications for how Whitehall operates (and not in a good way)."

SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford added: "Boris Johnson has lost control.

"Rather than prioritising the interests of people across the country, he is embroiled in an ego battle between his de-facto deputy Dominic Cummings and his former Cabinet ministers."

Appointed Chancellor when Philip Hammond was ousted last summer, Mr Javid was a big sci fi and fantasy fan and is thought to be the first Government minister to speak Klingon.

The first Home Secretary and Chancellor from an ethnic minority, the multi-millionaire was also the first Chancellor to quote both Captain Jean Luc Picard and Taylor Swift in speeches.

The son of a bus driver, he was elected MP for Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, in 2010 and was quickly identified a a rising star. The former City banker sat on the work and Pensions Select Committee, then the powerful Public Accounts Committee.

Mr Javid, who comes from a Muslim background but does not practise any religion, was particularly close to Chancellor George Osborne and was appointed a Treasury Minister in September 2012.

He was elevated to the Cabinet as Culture Secretary in April of that year and became Business Secretary in May 2015 after the Tories' shock election outright victory.

He had a picture of Margaret Thatcher hanging on his wall at University.

The PM had already sacked eight ministers earlier today as he began a shake-up of his top team.

Northern Ireland Secretary Julian Smith was the first to get the chop just weeks after he was celebrated for restoring power-sharing in Northern Ireland.

Environment Secretary Theresa Villiers also lost her job just weeks after clinging onto her seat at the election.

They were followed out the door by Business Secretary Andrea Leadsom, Attorney General Geoffrey Cox and Housing Minister Esther McVey - whose departure leaves the Tories with their 10th Housing Minister in 10 years.

The Prime Minister attempted to brush off questions over who funded his £15k Caribbean holiday by booting out a string of ministers, many of them women - at a cost of £100,000 to the taxpayer.

They were set to be replaced by other women, and women will get more junior jobs with a 50/50 junior split. But when it comes to the Cabinet itself, there are still just seven women out of 22 round the table. 

Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg had been tipped to keep his job despite  causing outrage with remarks about the “common sense” of Grenfell families during the election.

A No 10 source said: “The Prime Minister wants this reshuffle to set the foundations for Government now and in the future. He wants to promote a generation of talent that will be promoted further in the coming years."

But his new broom also faced being overshadowed by a row over who funded his £15,000 Caribbean holiday.

Labour called for a standards probe into the Prime Minister after he claimed Tory donor David Ross, co-founder of Carphone Warehouse, funded the Mustique villa where he stayed with girlfriend Carrie Symonds.

Millionaire Mr Johnson declared the freebie trip yesterday in  the latest Commons register of interests.

But Mr Ross made a bombshell intervention last night- insisting he did not actually pay for the villa, he just helped arrange it with a phone call.

Shadow cabinet office minister Jon Trickett said: “  Boris Johnson must come clean about who has paid for his luxury trip. If he fails to do so, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards should step in and make him fess up.”