Nadhim Zahawi to replace Gavin Williamson as education secretary

Nadhim Zahawi, whose star has risen during the pandemic as vaccines minister, is to become education secretary after Gavin Williamson’s gaffe-prone tenure came to an end.

Zahawi has been promoted by Boris Johnson after winning plaudits over the efficient and fuss-free Covid vaccine programme, a style that may serve him well in an education sector buffeted by Williamson’s more confrontational style.

Theresa May appointed him as a junior education minister and he was moved to become industry minister 18 months later. In late 2020 Zahawi was picked by Johnson to be the vaccines deployment minister – a high-pressure role given the enormous significance placed on the rapid distribution of vaccines as the government’s main weapon against Covid-19.

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