Bromsgrove MP Sajid Javid, newly-appointed Secretary of State for Culture and the Arts following the resignation of Maria Miller, demonstrated his artistic skills recently when he painted a picture on the Greatest Garden Mural at a garden centre in his constituency..

The former Treasury financial secretary’s lack of experience in the field he now controls was the source of much critical comment – so our picture of him at Fresh@Burcot Garden Centre with a paintbrush in his hand is evidence for the defence! This what he painted (left)...

Fresh created a 32 ft long mural depicting a garden as a way of raising funds for childrens’ hospice gardens on Garden Re-Leaf Day. “Sajid Javid came along on launch day and joined us and the Fund Raising Manager from Acorns (Hospice), Dee McCann, in painting a picture on the mural” Said garden centre owner Nicci Gow. “Little did we know then, only a few days later the artistic skills he showed in painting an apple tree on our mural would be spotted by the Prime Minister and see him promoted to his first Cabinet post.”