Junior ministerial offices

Minister of State for Employment
In office 11 May 2015 – 14 July 2016
Prime Minister	David Cameron
Preceded by	Esther McVey
Succeeded by	Damian Hinds
Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury
In office 15 July 2014 – 11 May 2015
Prime Minister	David Cameron
Preceded by	David Gauke
Succeeded by	Damian Hinds

Member of Parliament
for Witham

Incumbent

Assumed office
6 May 2010

Preceded by

Constituency established

Majority

5,145 (10.2%)

Personal details

Born

Priti Sushil Patel

29 March 1972 (age 53)
London, England

Political party

Conservative (1991–1995; since 1997)

Other political
affiliations

Referendum (1995–1997)

Spouse

Alex Sawyer

(m. 2004)

Children

Alma mater

University of Keele (BA)
University of Essex (MPP)

Signature

Dame Priti Sushil Patel (born 29 March 1972) is a British politician. She has been the Shadow Foreign Secretary since November 2024. Before this, she was the Home Secretary from 2019 to 2022. The Home Secretary is a very important government job, in charge of policing, immigration, and national security.

Priti Patel is a member of the Conservative Party. She also served as the Secretary of State for International Development from 2016 to 2017. She has been a Member of Parliament (MP) for Witham since 2010. An MP is a person elected to represent a local area in the UK Parliament.

Patel was born in London to a family from Uganda and India. She studied at Keele University and the University of Essex. She was inspired to join politics by former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Before becoming an MP, she worked for a company that helps manage public image.

Early Life and Education
Starting Her Political Career
Becoming an MP and Early Roles
Brexit Campaign and Government Roles
Backbencher and Home Secretary
Recent Political Activities
Political Views
Personal Life
Honours
Images for kids
See also

Early Life and Education

Priti Patel was born on 29 March 1972 in London. Her grandparents were from Gujarat, India. They moved to Uganda and ran a shop there. In the 1960s, her parents moved to the UK. They started a chain of newsagent shops in London and the South East of England. She grew up in a Hindu family.

She went to a comprehensive school in Watford, Hertfordshire. Later, she studied economics at Keele University. She then did further studies in British government and politics at the University of Essex.

Priti Patel admired former Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Patel said Thatcher understood how people, homes, and businesses worked. She joined the Conservative Party in 1991.

Starting Her Political Career

After finishing university, Patel worked as an intern at the Conservative Central Office. From 1995 to 1997, she led the press office for the Referendum Party. This party focused on the UK leaving the European Union.

In 1997, Patel rejoined the Conservative Party. She worked for the new leader, William Hague, helping with media relations. In 2000, she left the Conservative Party to work for a public relations company called Weber Shandwick. She helped companies manage their public image.

Later, she worked for Diageo, a company that makes alcoholic drinks. She handled their public relations from 2003 to 2007. In 2007, she returned to Weber Shandwick.

Becoming an MP and Early Roles

Patel on the panel of Britannia Unchained

In the 2005 general election, Priti Patel ran as a Conservative candidate for Nottingham North. She did not win this election. After this, the new Conservative leader, David Cameron, saw her as a promising candidate. She was added to a special list of potential MPs.

In 2006, Patel was chosen to run for the new seat of Witham in Essex. In the 2010 general election, she was elected as the MP for Witham. She won with more than half of the votes.

As an MP, Patel was part of a group of Conservative MPs known as the "Class of 2010." They wrote a book together in 2012 called Britannia Unchained. The book discussed ways to improve the UK's economy.

In 2013, Patel joined the Prime Minister's policy team. The next year, she became the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury. This role helps manage government money. After the 2015 UK general election, Prime Minister Cameron made her the Minister of State for Employment. This meant she attended Cabinet meetings.

Brexit Campaign and Government Roles

Priti Patel was a strong supporter of the UK leaving the European Union (EU). This is known as Brexit. She was a key figure in the "Vote Leave" campaign during the 2016 referendum. She believed the EU was "undemocratic" and interfered too much.

After the UK voted to leave the EU, Prime Minister Cameron resigned. Patel supported Theresa May to become the new Conservative leader. When May became Prime Minister in July 2016, she appointed Patel as the Secretary of State for International Development. This role involves managing the UK's aid to other countries.

Patel wanted to change how UK aid was spent. She believed too much was wasted. She focused on using aid to help countries through trade. In 2017, Patel had to resign from this role. This happened after it was revealed she had meetings in Israel that were not approved by the government. These meetings broke the rules for ministers.

Backbencher and Home Secretary

Patel visiting British troops in 2017

After resigning, Priti Patel became a backbencher. This means she was an MP but not a government minister. She continued to speak out on political issues.

In July 2019, when Boris Johnson became Prime Minister, he appointed Priti Patel as the Home Secretary. This is one of the most important jobs in the government. As Home Secretary, she was in charge of the country's internal affairs, including policing, immigration, and security.

During her time as Home Secretary, she introduced a new points-based immigration system. This system aims to control who can come to the UK based on their skills and qualifications. She also worked on a plan to send migrants who cross the English Channel to Rwanda. This plan aimed to stop dangerous crossings.

Patel meets with the French interior minister Christophe Castaner in 2019 to discuss the English Channel migrant crossings

Patel also faced concerns about her behavior towards staff in her department. An inquiry found that she had not always treated civil servants with respect. She apologized for any upset she caused.

In September 2020, Patel criticized Extinction Rebellion protesters. She called them "criminals" who were disrupting society. She also spoke about "activist lawyers" who she felt were making it harder to remove migrants from the UK.

Patel meets with Rwandan foreign minister Vincent Biruta in 2022 to sign the Rwanda asylum plan

In 2021, Priti Patel was accused of trying to help a healthcare company get a government contract for personal protective equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic. The company's director had previously worked for her.

In September 2022, after Boris Johnson resigned, Priti Patel also resigned as Home Secretary.

Recent Political Activities

Logo of Patel's 2024 leadership campaign

In the general election on 4 July 2024, Priti Patel was re-elected as the MP for Witham. The Conservative Party lost the election.

After Rishi Sunak resigned as the leader of the Conservative Party, Priti Patel decided to run for the leadership. She wanted to become the new leader of the party. However, she was eliminated in the first round of voting by Conservative MPs.

On 4 November 2024, the new Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, appointed Priti Patel as the Shadow Foreign Secretary. A "shadow" minister is part of the opposition party. Their job is to watch what the government minister in that area is doing and suggest different ideas.

Political Views

Priti Patel is known for her strong views within the Conservative Party. She often describes herself as a "Thatcherite", following the ideas of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

She has strong opinions on crime. In the past, she supported bringing back the death penalty, but she later said she no longer held this view. She also opposes allowing prisoners to vote.

Patel has been criticized for her past work with the tobacco industry. She voted against a smoking ban in 2010 and campaigned against plain packaging for tobacco products. She has also supported campaigns to reduce taxes on alcohol.

In 2018, Priti Patel said she found the term "BME" (Black and Minority Ethnic) to be "patronising." She said she considers herself British "first and foremost" because she was born in the UK.

Personal Life

Priti Patel is married to Alex Sawyer. They got married in 2004. Alex Sawyer works as a marketing consultant. He is also a Conservative councillor in the London Borough of Bexley. From 2014 to 2017, he also worked part-time as her office manager. They have one son, who was born in 2008.

Honours

Priti Patel was made a member of the Privy Council on 13 May 2015. This gives her the title "The Right Honourable" for life.

In 2023, she was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE). This is a special honour that allows her to use the title "Dame."

Dame Priti is also a member of the MCC, a famous cricket club.

Images for kids

Patel greeting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Heathrow Airport on 12 November 2015
Patel as Home Secretary with Johnson in 2019
Patel speaking in 2012