Britain’s new Prime Minister Boris Johnson named Priti Patel as interior minister, marking a political comeback for the former international development minister.
- Priti Patel, 47, resigned as International Development minister in November 2017 over undisclosed meetings with Israeli officials that breached diplomatic protocol.
- She campaigned to leave the European Union in 2016, and since leaving government has been an outspoken critic of former Prime Minister Theresa May’s approach to Brexit.
- Earlier this week, Priti Patel, who also served as a junior Treasury minister, released a report on the British economy arguing for lower taxes and for a new Bank of England mandate more focused on asset price inflation and financial imbalances.Priti Patel is English-born to Indian parents. In the EU referendum campaign she launched an appeal to “Save the British Curry” which argued that a post-Brexit immigration system would be fairer to those from outside the EU and ease a shortage of chefs for Indian restaurants in Britain.
- Former British leader David Cameron touted Priti Patel as Britain’s first Indian-heritage prime minister during a huge rally at Wembley stadium in 2015 to mark the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi
