Priti Patel

Patel on the panel of "Britannia Unchained"

In the 2005 general election, she stood as the Conservative candidate for Nottingham North, losing to the incumbent Labour MP Graham Allen.[25][26] Despite her unsuccessful parliamentary campaign, Patel was identified as a promising candidate by new party leader David Cameron, and was offered a place on the "A-List" of Conservative prospective parliamentary candidates (PPC).[19] In November 2006, she was adopted as the PPC for the notionally safe Conservative seat of Witham — a new constituency in central Essex created after a boundary review[27][28] — before gaining a majority of 15,196 at the 2010 general election. She was drafted into the Number 10 Policy Unit in October 2013,[29] and was promoted as Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury the following summer.[30]

Along with fellow Conservative MPs Kwasi Kwarteng, Dominic Raab, Chris Skidmore and Liz Truss, Patel was considered one of the "Class of 2010" who represented the party's "new Right".[31] Together they co-authored Britannia Unchained, a book published in 2012. This work was critical of levels of workplace productivity in the UK, making the controversial statement that "once they enter the workplace, the British are among the worst idlers in the world". The authors suggested that to change this situation, the UK should reduce the size of the welfare state and seek to emulate the working conditions in countries like Singapore, Hong Kong, and South Korea rather than those of other European nations.[32][33] In the same year, Patel was elected on to the executive of the 1922 Committee.[34]

In October 2014, Patel criticised the plan of the Academies Enterprise Trust to merge the New Rickstones and Maltings Academies, claiming that to do so would be detrimental to school standards.[35] Patel lodged a complaint with the BBC alleging one-sided coverage critical of Narendra Modi on the eve of his victory in 2014 Indian elections.[36][37] In January 2015, Patel was presented with a "Jewels of Gujarat" award in Ahmedabad, India, and in the city she gave a keynote speech at the Gujarat Chamber of Commerce.[38]

In the general election of May 2015 — a Conservative victory — Patel retained her parliamentary seat with 27,123 votes, increasing her majority by 4,358.[39] During the campaign, she had criticised Labour Party rival John Clarke for referring to her as a "sexy Bond villain" and a "village idiot" on social media; he apologised.[40] After the election, Patel rose to Cabinet-level as Minister of State for Employment in the Department for Work and Pensions,[41] and was sworn of the Privy Council on 14 May 2015.

In October 2015 a junior employee at the Department for Work and Pensions was dismissed from her role. In response, the employee brought a formal complaint of bullying and harassment against the department, including Patel. In 2017 a settlement was reached for £25,000 after the member of staff threatened to bring a legal claim of bullying, harassment and discrimination on the grounds of race and disability against the department and Patel.[42]

In December 2015, Patel voted to support Cameron's planned bombing of Islamic State targets in Syria.[43]

Following Cameron's announcement of a referendum on the UK's continuing membership of the European Union (EU), Patel was widely touted as a likely "poster girl" for the Vote Leave campaign.[44] Patel said that the EU is "undemocratic and interferes too much in our daily lives". She publicly stated that immigration from elsewhere in the EU was overstretching the resources of UK schools.[45] She helped to launch the Women For Britain campaign for anti-EU women; at their launch party, she compared their campaign with that of Emmeline Pankhurst and the Suffragettes, for which she was criticised by Emmeline's great-granddaughter Helen Pankhurst.[46]

Following the success of the "Leave" vote in the EU referendum, Cameron resigned, resulting in a leadership contest within the party. Patel openly supported Theresa May as his successor, claiming that she had the "strength and experience" for the job, while arguing that May's main challenger Andrea Leadsom would prove too divisive to win a general election.[47] In November 2017, Patel was critical of the UK government Brexit negotiations and stated: "I would have told the EU in particular to sod off with their excessive financial demands".[48]

Patel greeting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Heathrow Airport on 12 November 2015

After becoming Prime Minister, in July 2016 May appointed Patel to the position of International Development Secretary. Patel described herself as being "delighted" with the post despite a statement made in 2013 suggesting that the Department for International Development (DFID) should be scrapped and replaced with a Department for International Trade and Development.[49] Many staff at the department were concerned about Patel's appointment, both because of her support for Brexit and because of her longstanding scepticism regarding international development and aid spending.[50]

On taking the position, Patel stated that too much UK aid was wasted or spent inappropriately, declaring that she would adopt an approach rooted in "core Conservative principles" and emphasise international development through trade as opposed to aid.[51] In September, Patel announced that the UK would contribute £1.1 billion to a global aid fund used to combat malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS, but added that any further aid deals would include "performance agreements" meaning that the British Government could reduce aid by 10% if specific criteria were not met by the recipient country.[52]

In September 2016 she expressed opposition to the construction of 28 affordable homes at the Lakelands development in Stanway, referring to it as an "unacceptable loss of open space" and criticising Colchester Borough Council for permitting it.[53] That same month, the council's chief executive Adrian Pritchard issued a complaint against Patel, claiming that she had acted "inappropriately" in urging Sajid Javid to approve the construction of an out-of-town retail park after it had already been rejected by Colchester Council.[54]

Patel with Modi in 2016

Also in September, proposals were put forward for a change to the boundaries of parliamentary constituencies across the UK. As a result of the plans, Patel's seat of Witham would be merged with neighbouring Maldon. This would potentially require her to compete against Maldon MP John Whittingdale for the new seat of Witham and Maldon.[55]

Patel was critical of the UK's decision to invest DFID funds to support the Palestinian territories through UN agencies and the Palestinian Authority. In October 2016 she ordered a review of the funding procedure, temporarily freezing approximately a third of Britain's aid to the Palestinians during the review. In December 2016, DFID announced significant changes concerning future funding for the Palestinian Authority. DFID stated that future aid would go "solely to vital health and education services, in order to meet the immediate needs of the Palestinian people and maximise value for money." This move was widely supported by Jewish groups, including the Jewish Leadership Council and the Zionist Federation.[56][57]

In January 2017, Patel and the Labour MEP Neena Gill were the two UK winners of the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman, the highest honour that the Indian government gives to non-resident Indians or people of Indian origin. She was given the award for her public service.[58] In the June snap general election, she was re-elected as MP for Witham with a majority 18,646 votes.[1]

In March 2020, it was reported that while serving as International Development Secretary Patel was alleged to have “harassed and belittled” staff in her private office in 2017.[59]

On 3 November 2017, the BBC's Diplomatic correspondent James Landale broke the news that Patel had held meetings in Israel in August 2017 without telling the Foreign Office. She was accompanied by Lord Polak, honorary president of Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI). The meetings, up to a dozen in number, took place while Patel was on a "private holiday". Patel met Yair Lapid, the leader of Israel's centrist Yesh Atid party, and reportedly made visits to several organisations where official departmental business was discussed. The BBC reported that "According to one source, at least one of the meetings was held at the suggestion of the Israeli ambassador to London. In contrast, British diplomats in Israel were not informed about Ms Patel's plans."[60]

It was also reported that, following the meetings, Patel had recommended that the Department for International Development give international aid money to field hospitals run by the Israeli army in the Golan Heights. Although these hospitals have been described by the British Prime Minister's official spokesman as "provid[ing] medical support for Syrian refugees",[61] Israeli officials have refused to identify who they treat in them, and whether they are regime forces, rebels or civilians.[62] Western media reports suggest that Israel is aiding and funding Syrian opposition organisations in the Syrian civil war.[63][64]

On 4 November 2017, in an interview with The Guardian, Patel stated

Boris [Johnson] knew about the visit. The point is that the Foreign Office did know about this, Boris knew about [the trip]. I went out there, I paid for it. And there is nothing else to this. It is quite extraordinary. It is for the Foreign Office to go away and explain themselves. The stuff that is out there is it, as far as I am concerned. I went on holiday and met with people and organisations. As far as I am concerned, the Foreign Office have known about this. It is not about who else I met; I have friends out there.[65][66]

Patel faced calls to resign, with numerous political figures calling her actions a breach of the ministerial code, which states: "Ministers must ensure that no conflict arises, or could reasonably be perceived to arise, between their public duties and their private interests, financial or otherwise".[67] Labour MP Jon Trickett said, "She met with the prime minister, and all sorts in Israel, with a lobbyist – I don't think it is good enough to apologise as I really think this is a serious breach of the ministerial code. The Prime Minister really should be sacking her, or at the very very minimum referring it to the Cabinet Office for investigation".[67]

On 6 November, Patel was summoned to meet the Prime Minister Theresa May, who then said that Patel had been "reminded of her responsibilities" and announced plans for the ministerial code of conduct to be tightened.[68] Patel released an apology for her actions, and corrected her remarks to The Guardian, which she said gave the false impression that the Foreign Secretary knew about the trip before it happened, and that the only meetings she had had were those then in the public domain.[69] According to Downing Street, May learned of the meetings when the BBC broke the story on 3 November.[70] When May hosted Netanyahu the previous day for the Balfour Declaration centenary, she was not aware that her minister had had meetings with him in August.

In the days after Patel's meeting with the Prime Minister and public apology, there were further revelations about her contacts with Israel, including details of two more undisclosed meetings with Israeli officials in Westminster and New York in September 2017,[71] that Patel had not disclosed when she met the Prime Minister on 6th.[72] As a result of these further revelations Patel was summoned to Downing Street once more on 8 November, where she met with the Prime Minister and subsequently resigned from her cabinet position, after 16 months in the post.[73] She was replaced by pro-Brexit MP Penny Mordaunt the following day.[74] Patel claimed that, following her resignation, she was "overwhelmed with support from colleagues across the political divide" and from her constituents.[75][76]

Patel visiting British troops in 2017

In May 2018, Patel questioned the impartiality of the Electoral Commission and called for it to investigate Britain Stronger in Europe or to end its inquiry into the Vote Leave campaign. Patel expressed concern that Britain Stronger in Europe had been provided with services by other remain campaigns without declaring the expenditure in the appropriate way.[77] In August 2018, the Electoral Commission reported that there was no evidence that Britain Stronger in Europe had breached any laws on campaign spending.[78]

In December 2018, during the UK's Brexit negotiations, a government report was leaked which indicated that food supplies and the economy in the Republic of Ireland could be adversely affected in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Following the report, Patel commented: "This paper appears to show the government were well aware Ireland will face significant issues in a no-deal scenario. Why hasn't this point been pressed home during negotiations?" Some sections of the media reported her comments as a suggestion that Britain should exploit Ireland's fear of damage to its economy and food shortages to advance its position with the EU. She was criticised for insensitivity by several other MPs in the light of Britain's part in Ireland's Great Famine in the 19th century, in which a million people died. Patel said her comments had been taken out of context.[79][6] Irish EU Commissioner Phil Hogan said that a food blockade would result in Britain starving, not Ireland, since 43% of food consumed in the UK comes from Ireland.[80] Journalist Eilis O'Hanlon criticised the media's characterisation of Patel's comments as a "manipulative, sinister media-manufactured campaign of character assassination", further elaborating that the "divide between fact and comment broke down entirely in response to Priti Patel's comments."[81]

In February 2019, Patel tweeted supportive messages for Turning Point UK.[82][83] In March 2019, Patel backed a pamphlet published by the TaxPayers' Alliance which called for the international development budget to be reformed, and for the UK alone to decide what constitutes aid, rather than international organisations.[84]

Patel as Home Secretary with Prime Minister Boris Johnson in 2019

Patel was appointed Home Secretary by Boris Johnson in July 2019.[85] Shortly after her appointment, news had transpired that, in May 2019, Patel began working for Viasat as a strategic adviser on a salary of £5,000 a month for five hours’ work a month, without seeking prior approval from the government's Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, leading to accusations that she has broken the ministerial code for a second time.[86] In the December general election, she was re-elected as MP for Witham with an increased majority of 24,082 (48.8%) votes.[1]

In January 2020, a report by the Youth Empowerment and Innovation Project said that Patel's approach to tackling youth radicalisation was "madness" and the Home Office had been "disengaged".[87]

In February 2020, Patel launched a points-based immigration system, which will take effect from 1 January 2021.[88] The system will aim to reduce the number of immigrants to the UK by requiring visa applicants to meet a set of criteria, such as a salary threshold, ability to speak English, academic qualifications and working in an understaffed industry.[89]

That same month she came under scrutiny for trying to "force out" Sir Philip Rutnam, the most senior civil servant in her department.[90][91] Rutnam resigned on 29 February, saying he would be suing the government for constructive dismissal and that he did not believe Patel's assertion that she had been uninvolved in an alleged campaign briefing against him.[92] Rutnam alleged that Patel had orchestrated a “vicious” campaign against him.[93]

Several days later, Patel sent an email to Home Office staff in which she expressed regret at Rutman's decision to resign and thanked him for his service.[94] In April 2020, Rutnam announced that he would be making a claim of “protected disclosure” under whistleblowing laws. Rutnam's decision to make a whistleblowing claim meant that, in the event of winning his case, compensation would be uncapped, unlike an ordinary unfair dismissal claim.[93]

In April 2020, it was reported that Patel had turned down multiple invitations to appear in front of the Home Affairs Select Committee to discuss the coronavirus outbreak. Patel refused four invitations, since January 2020, to appear before the Committee.[95]