Priti Patel

Birth Name: Priti Sushil Patel

Place of Birth: Islington, London, England, U.K.

Date of Birth: 29 March, 1972

Ethnicity: Gujarati Indian

Priti Patel is a British politician, and author. A member of the Conservative Party, she has been Secretary of State for International Development, from 14 July, 2016 to 8 November, 2017, and Home Secretary, from 24 July, 2019 to 6 September, 2022; as well as a Member of Parliament for Witham, since 6 May, 2010, among other duties. She had worked for public relations consultancy firm Weber Shandwick. As Home Secretary, she launched points-based immigration and a migrant asylum deal with Rwanda. She is known as a Thatcherite, social coservative, and Eurosceptic.

Priti is the daughter of Anjana and Sushil Patel. Her parents moved to the U.K. in the 1960s, settling in Hertfordshire, and established and ran a chain of newsagents. Priti was raised Hindu. Her father was a UKIP politician. Priti is married to marketing consultant and politician Alex Sawyer, with whom she has a son. Alex consults for NASDAQ, and has also worked in her office.

Priti’s paternal grandparents were born in Gujarat, India. They moved to Kampala, Uganda, where they ran a convenience store.

Priti’s maternal grandfather’s surname was Patel.