Priti Patel, who is usually described by her critics as a divisive politician, efficiently defended her seat in Witham, Essex, securing 37.2 per cent of the vote and inserting forward of the Labour Party candidate.
The politician of Gujarati descent served as House Secretary from 2019 to 2022. A member of the Conservative Get together, she has represented Witham as an MP since 2010.
She was requested to step down from her place as worldwide improvement secretary by then Prime Minister Theresa Could in 2017 attributable to unauthorised communications with Israeli officers.
Learn: Indian-origin politicians who made it to the House of Commons in the UK
Earlier in 2006, Priti Patel had expressed her help for the “final punishment” for the worst crimes. Throughout a query time debate in 2011, she supported the dying penalty though she has since insisted that her feedback have been taken out of context.
Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson famously characterised Priti Patel as a “hardline” house secretary, humorously suggesting that her insurance policies may rework the UK’s method to penal coverage akin to that of Saudi Arabia.
Patel was born in London to a Ugandan-Indian household and studied at Keele College and the College of Essex. Impressed by Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, she initially supported the Referendum Get together earlier than becoming a member of the Conservatives.
Earlier than getting into politics, she labored on the public relations consultancy agency Weber Shandwick. Following an unsuccessful try to win a seat in Nottingham North through the 2005 common election, Conservative chief David Cameron really helpful Patel for the occasion’s “A-list” of potential parliamentary candidates.
In April, Patel signed what she touted as a groundbreaking settlement to deport migrants who arrived within the UK illegally to Rwanda. This transfer stirred controversy amongst critics, together with some Conservatives, who raised considerations about Rwanda’s human rights report and different points.
In early 2021, the Police Federation of England and Wales expressed a lack of confidence in her as House Secretary following a contentious determination to implement a pay freeze for officers.
Patel alos questioned the UK’s use of DFID funds to help Palestinian territories by means of UN companies and the Palestinian Authority. She had halted a 3rd of Britain’s assist to Palestinians in October 2016 and redirected future funding to focus solely on essential well being and schooling providers. Jewish teams, together with the Jewish Management Council and the Zionist Federation, supported this variation.