UK’s new Home Secretary is Suella Braverman, an Indian-origin barrister who succeeded fellow Indian-origin colleague Priti Patel on Tuesday.
Braverman served as Attorney General in the Boris-Johnson led government and was among the first contenders to throw her hat in the ring for the Prime Minister race to replace Johnson.
The 42-year-old Conservative Party member of Parliament for Fareham in south-east England was reportedly named as Home Secretary by newly-appointed Prime Minister Liz Truss on Tuesday.
The mother of two children is the daughter of Hindu Tamil mother Uma and Goan-origin father Christie Fernandes. Her mother migrated to the UK from Mauritius while her father migrated from Kenya in the 1960s, as per PTI.
Braverman will be tasked with projects including the government’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, which has faced legal challenges, as per a BBC report. “I want to embed the opportunities of Brexit and tidy up the outstanding issues and cut taxes,” Braverman, a prominent member of the pro-Brexit wing of the Conservatives, said.
“They loved Britain. It gave them hope. It gave them security. This country gave them an opportunity. I think my background’s really informed by my approach to politics,” said Braverman about her parents in her leadership campaign launch video in July. She was knocked out in the second round of the initial ballot of Tory MPs however and pledged her support for Truss, who as Prime Minister has rewarded her with one of the highest offices in the UK government.
“Liz is ready now to be PM. She won’t need to learn on the job. And the job is hard and needs to be done properly. The party has had a difficult six years and stability is urgently and swiftly needed,” Braverman said.
Braverman, a Cambridge University law graduate, married Rael Braverman in 2018. Her maternity leave famously brought about an overdue legal change to allow her to remain a Cabinet minister while on leave last year during the birth of her second child.
Braverman is a Buddhist who attends the London Buddhist Centre regularly and took her oath of office in Parliament on the Dhammapada’ scripture of Lord Buddha’s sayings.
(With agency inputs)
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