Jeremy Hunt leaves health secretary role as culture secretary takes over

Jeremy Hunt has been appointed foreign secretary, with digital, culture, media and sport secretary Matt Hancock named as his successor as health secretary.
 
Mr Hunt had recently become the longest service health secretary, having taken the role in September 2012. He had previously said that health secretary was his last major role in politics.
 
However, following Boris Johnson’s resignation yesterday, Mr Hunt was appointed foreign secretary.
 
Matt Hancock had been culture secretary since January this year, and had previously been a junior minister in the same department.
 
Mr Hancock was appointed digital, culture, media and sport secretary in January 2018 having been a junior minister in the department since July 2016. He was first elected an MP in the 2010 general election in the West Suffolk constituency.
 
Before entering parliament, he worked as an economist at the Bank of England and as chief of staff to the shadow chancellor.
 
Dr Chaand Nagpaul, BMA council chair, said: ’We congratulate Mr Hancock on his appointment and look forward to working constructively with him on the development of health policies to ensure safe, high quality patient care.
 
’While there is a new secretary of state, the challenges the health service faces remain the same. Patients are facing longer waits for care, so-called ”winter pressures” in the NHS are now hitting the service all year round, and it lacks doctors, nurses, and beds.
 
’This appointment comes at a crucial time for the health service and doctors want to see the new secretary of state put the NHS on a sustainable footing for the future, address the serious funding shortfall and ensure we can recruit and retain the right number of doctors, with the right support and infrastructure, to deliver high quality care for patients.’
 
Mr Hunt had voted and campaigned for ‘Remain’ during the EU referendum, but he has since said that he had been convinced over the merits of Brexit.
 
This story was first published on our sister publication Pulse