Who is Priti Patel

Born March 29 1972, Priti Patel is a British politician who has been the member of parliament from the Witham constituency in Essex since 2010.

Priti Patel, the only minority ethnic woman in British Prime Minister Theresa May's cabinet was forced to step down as the international development secretary. This, after reports emerged of her undisclosed meetings with Israeli officials.

She was summoned urgently by May following which the 45 year old leader cut short her trip to Uganda and Ethiopia and flew back to London. Following a six minute meeting, she wrote out her resignation stating, " fell below the high standards that are expected of a secretary of state.

Who is Priti Patel:

Born March 29 1972, Priti Patel is a British politician who has been the member of parliament from the Witham constituency in Essex since 2010. A member of the Conservative Party, she is regarded as being ideologically on the party's right wing.

Priti Patel was born in London to a Ugandan Indian migrant family. Educated at Keele University and the University of Essex, she was a member of the Conservative Party in her youth, became involved with the Referendum Party and then switched her allegiance back to the Conservatives. She worked for the public relations consultancy firm Weber Shandwick for several years, as part of which she lobbied for the tobacco and alcohol industries. Intending to switch to a political career, she unsuccessfully contested Nottingham North at the 2005 general election.

An outspoken politician, she has been criticised by her opponents for defending the alcohol and tobacco industries.

Following David 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. She said that the EU is "undemocratic and interferes too much in our daily lives".

After becoming Prime Minister, in July 2016 May appointed Patel to the position of International Development Secretary.

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, headed by Boris Johnson.

Priti Patel is married to Alex Sawyer and has a son, Freddie who was born in August 2008.

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