Dr Aseem Malhotra is no stranger to controversy. A decade ago, as an NHS clinician, he founded Action on Sugar, a campaign group credited with forcing Public Health England to push for lower levels of sugar in popular products. At the time, he was branded an agent of the “nanny state”, removing packaging that appealed to children and forcing sugar warnings on the public.

The cardiologist, 47, has also been a vocal critic of the widespread use of statins – one of the most prescribed medications on the NHS – as a preventative drug to reduce the risk of heart disease.

But it is since the outbreak of Covid-19 that he has risen to serious public prominence, first as a proponent of the UK government’s vaccine rollout, then as one of its fiercest critics. He has repeatedly claimed that the mRNA vaccines developed during the pandemic did “more harm than good” and called for them to be suspended.

Now he has a new role which gives him a huge influence over global health policy. A long-time ally of Robert F Kennedy Jr, Donald Trump’s health secretary, Malhotra was recently appointed chief medical adviser to the “MAHA Institute” (dedicated to RFK Jr’s “Make America Healthy Again” mantra), making him perhaps the most powerful Briton in Trump’s administration. 

“I’m in a unique position because of my work in the UK, because I span big pharma, big food policy, change, evidence-based medicine. And I’m a practising clinician,” he says.

Although Trump’s “America First” hiring policy means that Malhotra cannot take an official post in the US government, the role offers almost unrivalled access to the US health secretary.