5 facts about Priti Patel, Britain’s new interior minister

Priti Patel is a fervent Brexiteer and argued for lower taxes. She is also fighting for a post-Brexit immigration system which would help ease shortage of Indian chefs in UK.

Britain’s new Prime Minister Boris Johnson named Priti Patel as interior minister, marking a political comeback for the former international development minister.

Conservative MP Priti Patel (L) talks with Stanley Johnson (R), father of Conservative MP Boris Johnson, at an event to announce the winner of the Conservative Party leadership contest in central London. (AFP)

- 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, 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.

- 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 Patel as Britain’s first Indian-heritage prime minister during a huge rally at Wembley stadium in 2015 to mark the visit of Indian leader Narendra Modi.