Priti Patel

Priti Patel Biography

Priti Patel is a British Conservative Party politician of Indian origin. She is of Gujarati origin. Both her parents are Gujaratis who immigrated to Uganda. Patel follows Hindu religion and she is the first Hindu woman be elected to the British Parliament. She is serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Witham constituency in Essex since 2010, and currently holds the cabinet position of Minister of State for Employment since May 2015. Patel is a former member of Public Administration Select Committee. In January 2015, her name was included in the list of Jewels of Gujarat: Leading Global Gujarati Personalities.

She was born in London to Indian Patel parents in the year 1972. She is married to Alex Sawyer since 2004 and the couple has one son. She attended Watford Grammar School for Girls in Watford, followed by subjects - Economics, Sociology and Social Anthropology at Keele University. She took Master’s from University of Essex. Got associated with politics she became a member of Conservative Party. She was recruited at the party office in 1995 where she worked for next two years. Since then she has been actively involved with the party for many years. She got married in 2004.

In 2005 general election, she unsuccessfully contested from Nottingham North. But she was rated as a promising young leader at that time. In 2006, she was adopted as the PPC for the notionally safe Conservative seat of Witham. In 2010 general election she successfully conducted as a candidate of Conservative Party and became the first Hindu woman to become a member of British parliament. Following 2015 general election, Patel rose to Cabinet-level. She was appointed as the Minister of State for Employment in the Department for Work and Pensions on 14 May 2015.

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Updated: April 03, 2016