UK: The recent induction of Indian-origin barrister Rt Hon Suella Braverman on Tuesday, September 6, 2022, was chosen as the Secretary of State for the Home Department in Britain’s newly-appointed PM Liz Truss’s cabinet.
The 42-year-old Conservative Party Member of Parliament for Fareham south-east England (May 2015) has previously served as the Attorney General in the Boris Johnson-led government between February 13, 2020 and September 6, 2022.
Priti Patel’s successor has also held the post of Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Exiting the European Union from January to November 2018.
The newly inducted Suella Braverman was named as the home secretary by the Prime Minister Liz Truss. “I want to embed the opportunities of Brexit and tidy up the outstanding issues and cut taxes,” expressed Braverman, a prominent member of the pro-Brexit wing of the Conservatives who wants a clear break from Europe, including taking the UK out of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
Talking about the family’s contribution in her leadership campaign held in July, she voiced, “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.”
However, she was knocked out in the second round of the initial ballot of Tory MPs and threw her support behind Truss, who as Prime Minister has rewarded her with one of the highest offices in the UK government.
Expressing her thoughts on Liz Truss at Downing Street, Braverman said, “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.”
In her personal life, the Cambridge University law graduate married Rael Braverman in 2018 and her maternity leave famously brought about an overdue legal change last year to allow her to remain a Cabinet minister while away to give birth to their second child.
The mommy of two 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.
Being a regular visitor of the London Buddhist Centre, Braverman took her oath of office in Parliament on the ‘Dhammapada’ scripture of Lord Buddha’s sayings.
Among the others in the Truss top team include close allies such as Rt Hon Thérèse Coffey, appointed as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, and Deputy Prime Minister and Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng as Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Rt Hon James Cleverly was appointed Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs on 6 September 2022.
Wendy Morton, another ally, has been appointed as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury (Chief Whip).
Liz Truss will address her first appearance at Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) on September 7, 2022 at 12.00 pm (GMT) in the House of Commons.
The Conservative party, officially the Conservative and Unionist Party, also colloquially known as the ‘Tories’, is one of two main political parties in the United Kingdom, alongside its primary rival since the 1930s, the Labour Party.
