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Who is Suella Braverman, UK's next Home Secretary?

Dristi SharmaSeptember 6, 2022 | 12:26 IST

Suella Braverman, 42, the UK Attorney General of Indian origin, will be appointed the next Home Secretary. She will replace Priti Patel in Liz Truss's Cabinet. 50-year-old Priti Patel resigned on Monday, September 5, only hours after Liz Truss was named the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. 

Third minority Home Secretary: According to a PTI report, Braverman is likely to be the only Indian-origin MP in Truss's Cabinet. She is all set to become the third minority Home Secretary, after Priti Patel and Sajid Javid. 

Braverman has previously served on the Education Select Committee, as a Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Treasury, and as a Brexit Minister. She later resigned from the post in November 2018 over "unacceptable terms of the Withdrawal Agreement". In February 2020, Boris Johnson appointed her to serve as Attorney General.

"I’m a Conservative because we are the party that says it doesn’t matter where you start. It's about where you are going. You can make your life and that of others better by taking responsibility, self-empowerment and service. Aspiration, to me, means: rewarding endeavour, enabling compassion and liberating people from the shackles of the state."
-  Suella Braveman, the UK Attorney General

Braveman's Indian roots: Braverman was born in Harrow, Greater London, to Christie and Uma Fernandes, both of Indian origin, who emigrated to Britain in the 1960s. 

  • Her mother was born into a Hindu Tamil Mauritian family and was a nurse and a counsellor in Brent. Her mother was later a Conservative candidate from Tottenham in the 2001 general election and in the Brent East by-election in 2003. 
  • Her father was of Goan ancestry and worked for a housing association.
  • Braverman is also the niece of Mahen Kundasamy, former Mauritian High Commissioner to London.
  • She married Rael Braverman in February 2018, and has two children. 

Braverman ran for UK PM elections: Suella, who was also running for Prime Minister, decided to support Liz Truss after losing in the second round in July.

"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."
- Suella Braveman
 

Now, Braveman's main task will be to crack down on Channel crossings by illegal migrants and deport them back, which current Home Secretary Priti Patel failed to do.

Besides Braverman, other key posts in the new Truss-led Cabinet are:

  • Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng is being lined up as Chancellor of the Exchequer. 
  • Education Secretary James Cleverly is to be promoted to Foreign Secretary.
  • Defence Secretary Ben Wallace will retain their role. 
  • Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries will retain their role.
Last updated: September 06, 2022 | 12:39
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