John Whittingdale – the secretary of state for Culture, Media and Sport – is one of six high-profile cabinet ministers who will campaign for Britain to leave the European Union (EU).

Whittingdale has joined the Vote Leave campaign group alongside Iain Duncan Smith (secretary of state for Work and Pensions), Priti Patel (employment minister), Michael Gove (secretary of state for Justice), Chris Grayling (leader of the House of Commons) and Theresa Villiers (secretary of state for Northern Ireland).

His announcement came shortly after prime minister David Cameron set 23 June 2016 as the date for the EU referendum – when the British public go to the polls and vote to stay in or leave the European Union.

In an interview with The Sun Whittingdale – who is ultimately responsible for the nation’s sports strategy and policy – said that a concern over increasing immigration levels was his prime reason for wanting to leave.

“The prime minister famously made the commitment that we would reduce net immigration down to tens of thousands,” said Whittingdale. “We have not begun to approach that, and it is very hard to see how you can do that if you do not have to control over your borders.”

He added: “I am not going to pretend there are uncertainties. But I am very confident about this country’s ability to stand on its own two feet in the world and to negotiate a new relationship with the European Union which preserves all the advantages that we have.”

Whittingdale became culture secretary in May, shortly after the Conservative Party won the 2015 general election. Under his watch, the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) delivered Sporting Future, the government’s 10-year sports strategy, in December last year.