July 26, 2019
The new Home Secretary of the United Kingdom, Priti Patel is
of Indian origin. Patel, who is big supporter of Brexit, took charge on
Wednesday in the new cabinet headed by Boris Johnson.
Patel was expected to get this important post as she has been a major
supporter of a campaign to make Boris Johnson the prime minister after
Theresa May.
Patel had led the Vote Leave campaign in the lead up to the June
2016 referendum in favour of Britain’s exit from the European Union
(EU).
Before her appointment was announced, Patel said, “It is important that the
Cabinet should represent modern Britain as well as a modern Conservative
Party”. 47-year-old Priti was first elected as a Conservative MP in 2010 and
became prominent in the then Tory government as his Indian Diaspora Champion.
She went on to take charge of junior ministerial posts, Treasury minister in
2014 and then Employment Minister after the 2015 General Election, before May
promoted her to Secretary of State in the Department for
International Development (DfID) in 2016 until she was forced to
resign in 2017.
After she won a landslide victory in the Tory leadership contest, she told
the media that with Boris Johnson leading the Conservative Party and as Prime
Minister, the UK finally has a leader who believes in Britain.
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. He is committed to
securing 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. – Priti Patel, Home
Secretary, United Kingdom
Patel is seen as a champion of India-UK ties. Of Gujarati-origin, she is an
avid supporter of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the UK.
“We are soon to have a new PM in the UK, which will provide a welcome change
in how we engage India”s re-elected PM Modi,” she said recently.
Source: https://newzhook.com/story/priti-patel-new-uk-home-secretary-keen-on-improving-india-uk-ties
