Britain has a Gujarati-origin lawmaker at the helm of UK politics as Prime Minister David Cameron promoted Priti Patel to his Cabinet after his surprise victory in general elections. She has been made UK’s new Minister of State for Employment.
The 43-year-old Patel will attend Cabinet as the senior-most Indian-origin member of the newly-elected British government.
Patel was born in north-west London to Indian-origin immigrant parents who settled in Britain after fleeing Idi Amin’s regime in Uganda in the 1970s. Her family went on to set up a series of successful cornershops in London and the south east of England.
Patel studied economics at University of Essex before joining the Conservative party during the prime ministership of John Major in the 1990s.
In July 2004, Patel married marketing director Alex Sawyer and they have a son, Freddie, born in August 2008.
“Nurturing and expanding the financial partnership between the UK and India has been a key objective of this government since 2010,” said Patel, who has been at the forefront of British MPs extending an invite to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit the UK.
We will continue to build ever closer engagement with the Indian government, so that both of our great nations can benefit from the economic and cultural rewards.
– Priti Patel
Patel had also been appointed Indian Diaspora Champion by Cameron.
In January 2015, she was awarded the ‘Jewels of Gujarat’ honour at a reception in Ahmedabad, where she led a British delegation to the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2015.
I have always been proud to have a heritage in Gujarat. It is a state with which the parallels between the UK and India are clear. Both economies are open, outward looking and dynamic – a great example of why UK-India trade links are so strong, and why Gujarat and the UK have been doing business with each other for centuries.
– Priti Patel
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Published: 11 May 2015,12:41 AM IST