Matt Hancock replaces Jeremy Hunt as health secretary

Health and social care secretary Jeremy Hunt replaces Boris Johnson as foreign secretary following his resignation on 9 July 2018.

Matt Hancock, health and social care secretary

Jeremy Hunt has been replaced as health and social care secretary by former culture secretary Matt Hancock, following the resignation of foreign secretary Boris Johnson over government proposals for Brexit on 9 July 2018.

Hunt was moved to the foreign office to replace Johnson, with Hancock being promoted to the Department for Health and Social Care from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

Hancock, who was elected as Conservative MP for West Suffolk in 2010, is probably most well-known for becoming the first MP to launch his own smartphone app in February 2018. He worked as an economist at the Bank of England before his election and was chief of staff to former chancellor George Osborne when the Conservative Party was in opposition.

He has degrees from both Oxford and Cambridge universities and is known to be keen on promoting technology. He backed remain during the Brexit referendum.

On Apple’s ‘App Store’, Hancock’s app has been rated 3.5 stars out of 5.

Jeremy Hunt was appointed as health secretary in 2012, following roles as culture secretary and as minister for the Olympics, when the games were held in London in 2012. His six years at what became the Department for Health and Social Care during his tenure, made him the longest-serving health secretary in British political history.

Hunt welcomed his successor to the health role, joking on Twitter that the new NHS app would be in safe hands.

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Citation
The Pharmaceutical Journal, Matt Hancock replaces Jeremy Hunt as health secretary;Online:DOI:10.1211/PJ.2018.20205142

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