The story goes like this: when the news that Priti Patel had stepped down as international development secretary spread through her department, some civil servants burst into an impromptu singalong of Ding Dong! While largely told secondhand, the vignette illustrates a current political truth about Patel, that someone who not many years ago was regularly tipped as a future prime minister is now among the most divisive figures in Westminster. One official who witnessed Patel at the Department for International Development (DfID) said her behaviour there was “as bad as the stories say”, with staff ranging from her private ministerial office to senior civil servants having “really suffered”. At the end of the day, it’s not right to treat people the way she does.” Another official familiar with Patel’s period at DfID backed this up, saying the recent allegations “did not come as a surprise, because she had a reputation for being a bully”. The child of Gujarati Indian parents who fled to the UK from Uganda just before Idi Amin’s decision to deport all Asians, Patel shares a love of Margaret Thatcher with her father, Sushil, who built up a chain of newsagents and once stood for Ukip in council elections. As a new MP, Patel was one of the contributors to Britannia Unchained, a 2012 book of Thatcher-on-steroids essays calling for lower taxes and massive economic deregulation, with one section famously describing Britons as “among the worst idlers in the world”. Similarly, her appointment to the Home Office prompted rights groups to raise her previous comments on areas including immigration, asylum and criminal justice – not least the death penalty. While she is, in ministerial terms, just one step away from No 10, Patel is now rarely talked about as a future PM, despite a capacity for hard work and the ability, even acknowledged by her enemies, to be hugely charming. He said: “To me she always seemed like one of those MPs who doesn’t take it all too seriously, which can be a curse in Westminster.” Patel’s decision to hold a dozen unauthorised work meetings during what was billed as a family holiday, including with Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, seemed motivated by her vigorous opinions on foreign policy, apparently influenced by her ties to strongly pro-Israel and pro-US groups such as the Henry Jackson Society. After stints as a press officer for both the Referendum party and the Conservatives, she worked in corporate PR for Weber Shandwick, and for the drinks giant Diageo. Having become an MP in 2010 she had junior ministerial roles in the Treasury and Department for Work and Pensions under David Cameron,before Theresa May made her international development secretary. Regaining control of our borders does not mean slamming the door shut.” They say: “Priti Patel is a politician with a consistent record of voting against basic human rights protections.
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