Priti Patel Appointed UK’s First Indian-Origin Home Secretary

Patel replaced Pakistani-origin Sajid Javid, who has become the first ethnic minority Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Priti Patel is the new Home Secretary in UK PM Boris Johnson’s cabinet.

(Photo Courtesy: @patel4witham/Twitter)

Priti Patel, 47, an ardent Brexiteer who was among the most vocal critics of Theresa May's Brexit strategy, has taken charge as Britain's first Indian-origin Home Secretary, as part of Prime Minister Boris Johnson's top team on Thursday, 25 July.

Patel has replaced Pakistani-origin Sajid Javid, who has moved to the Treasury department as the first ethnic minority Chancellor of the Exchequer.

“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,” Patel said, in reference to her new job at the helm of the UK Home Office.

‘Deeply Honoured’

Patel also took to Twitter to express her gratitude.

Patel had been a prominent member of the ‘Back Boris’ campaign for the Conservative Party leadership and was widely tipped for the plum post in the prime minister's main team.

Hours before the appointment was announced on Wednesday, she said, “It is important that the Cabinet should represent a modern Britain as well as a modern Conservative Party.”

An Avid Brexit Supporter

A long-standing Eurosceptic, Patel had steered the ‘Vote Leave’ campaign in the lead-up to the June, 2016 referendum in favour of Britain's exit from the European Union (EU).

The 47-year-old was first elected as a Conservative MP for Witham in Essex in 2010 and gained prominence in the then David Cameron-led Tory government as his Indian Diaspora Champion.

She went on to be appointed to junior ministerial posts, treasury minister in 2014 and then employment minister after the 2015 general election, before May promoted her to the position of secretary of state in the Department for International Development (DfID) in 2016, until she was forced to quit the post 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 told PTI after Johnson secured a landslide victory in the Tory leadership contest earlier this week.

The Gujarati-origin politician, who is a prominent guest at all major Indian diaspora events in the UK, is seen as an avid supporter of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the UK.

Earlier, on Wednesday, 55-year old Boris Johnson became Britain's new Prime Minister who promised to leave the European Union on 31 October. Former Prime Minister, Theresa May also tendered her resignation on the same day.

(With inputs from PTI)