Hours after Liz Truss was voted as the UK Prime Minister to succeed Boris Johnson, Priti Patel – who held the post of Britain’s home secretary, or interior minister – announced that she will step down and continue serving the country from the “backbenches” of Witham constituency.
Critics who have criticised the former minister for overpromising and underdelivering on immigration, crime, charity and other policies in her three-year tenure, termed Patel’s exit as “good riddance”, alleging that she has been the “worst home secretary in living memory”.
A series of tweets followed after her announcement with a letter on the microblogging site.
“Priti Patel will go down as the worst Home Secretary in history. Her tenure has been plagued by allegations of bullying and spiteful policies which have made our country a pariah on the fringes of international law. Sadly, I expect more of the same from her successor,” said Liverpool Wavertree MP Paula Barker.
“Good riddance @pritipatel. You were an unspeakably cruel Home Secretary and won’t be missed by anyone with a shred of decency,” wrote Zarah Sultana, Labour Party MP for Coventry South. “Priti Patel’s legacy is one of enormous cruelty towards those seeking asylum and appalling mismanagement of the worst government department,” tweeted Glasgow South MP Stewart McDonald.
‘A bully’
Patel was often termed as a bully by her colleagues. According to the Independent, the morale inside the home office of the UK government was left in tatters because of Boris Johnson’s decision to keep Priti Patel as home secretary despite findings that she broke the ministerial code by bullying civil servants.
“The emotional and physical toll on staff was extreme… Staff concerns, at all levels, are not listened to or, at worse, actively penalised,” Lucy Moreton, a professional officer at the Immigration Services Union (ISU), was quoted as saying in the Independent report.
Journalist Nicola Kelly, who has worked for the UK home office in the past, wrote on Twitter reminding of how it was to work with Patel.m “A reminder of just how bad it was to work inside Priti Patel’s Home Office. Source messaged earlier: “anyone – Suella included – would be better than what we’ve had,” she said.
Patel resigned hours after the UK prime ministerial election on Monday. According to reports, she is expected to be succeeded by another Indian-origin woman – Suella Braverman.
The 42-year-old Goan-heritage Bavernman currently holds the post of Attorney General. She was also in the prime ministerial race in the UK, but threw her weight behind Liz Truss after getting eliminated in the second round in July.
Truss, now the third woman prime minister of UK, was elected the leader of the Conservative Party and will take over her new role on Tuesday. She defeated Indian-origin candidate and former finance minister Rishi Sunak.