An Indian-origin British politician by the name of Priti Patel has been roped in as Britain’s home secretary as a part of UK’s new Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s top team.
This means Priti Patel replaces Pakistani-origin Sajid Javid who has been recruited as the Chancellor of the Treasury Department. It should be noted that Sajid Javid is the first ethnic minority Chancellor of the Treasury Department.
For the unversed, Priti Patel is one among the important guests at all major Indian diaspora events in the UK. She is also widely seen as a massive supporter of PM Narendra Modi in the UK.
After being appointed as Britain’s home secretary, Priti Patel promised to give absolutely everything in her power to keep country and people safe and secure. She also went on to add saying that she would battle crime happening in today’s world.
Patel is looking forward to facing all the hurdles and challenges ahead.
“I will do everything in my power to keep our country safe, our people secure, and also to fight the scourge of crime that we see on our streets. I look forward to the challenges that now lie ahead,” Priti Patel told news agency PTI.
Priti Patel has been one of most vocal critics of Theresa May’s Brexit plan including being a significant member of the “Back Boris” campaign for the Conservative party.
“It is important that the cabinet should represent modern Britain as well as a modern Conservative Party,” Priti Patel added just hours before her appointment was announced on Wednesday.
The 47-year-old Priti Patel who is a Gujarati-origin politician was first elected as the Conservative Party MP in the year 2010 for Witham in Essex. The interesting part was that she gained popularity and fame from the David Cameroon-led Tory government as former PM Cameroon’s Indian Diaspora Champion.
In the year 2014, she managed junior ministerial posts, treasury minister in 2014 and then her journey started as employment minister in 2015 post the general election.
Two years later, Theresa May grew from strength to strength and then promoted her to the position of secretary of the state in the Department for International Development (DfID). Later, she was forced to resign from the reputed post that she held in 2017.
“With Boris Johnson leading the Conservative Party and as prime minister, the United Kingdom will have a leader who believes in Britain, will implement a new vision for the future of the country and a roadmap to move forward and thrive as a self-governing nation that re-establishes our ties with our friends and allies around the world such as India,” Patel added after Boris Johnson’s landslide victory in the Tory leadership contest that happened earlier this week.
“He is committed to securing a new and improved trading relationship with our friends in India and ensuring that the values we share — the rule of law, democracy, and dynamic entrepreneurial spirit — should be at the heart of one of our most important partners on the global stage,” said Patel.