Why prominent Tories are tripping over themselves to protect Priti Patel The Home Secretary is a favourite among the party grassroots, and No.10 believes she’s in tune with the country on law and order

The most dramatic personnel move Boris Johnson has undertaken since becoming Prime Minister was the appointment of Priti Patel as Home Secretary. The move surprised even the most clued-up Westminster watchers.

Given that Patel had been sacked from her last Cabinet job by then Prime Minister Theresa May for a misjudged meeting on a trip to Israel, there was a sense that if the Brexiteer MP returned to government it would be in a fairly junior role. Instead, she was appointed to a great office of state and became the most senior woman in Johnson’s Cabinet.

Recent signs suggest this is a decision that is coming back to haunt Johnson’s No. 10. Patel’s name has barely been out of the papers over the past fortnight. What began as reports of a rift between Patel and Sir Philip Rutnam, the top civil servant in her department, escalated over the weekend when he resigned.

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‘One party insider gripes that were another minister facing these allegations, they wouldn’t have be given such special treatment’

Rutnam has no plans to go quietly. He made a televised statement alleging that Patel had intimidated staff and making clear that he planned to take his case to an employment tribunal on the grounds of unfair dismissal. Since then, the allegations – which Patel denies – have been racking up, with reports of intimidating behaviour to staff in previous departments she has worked in.

The Home Secretary has made no public comment and has barely been seen. But her Tory colleagues have been doing their best to make up for her silence. Their reactions would befit a minister who has been cleared of all wrongdoing, rather than one facing a Cabinet Office investigation and employment tribunal.

The Prime Minister has described Patel as “fantastic”, No. 10 has poured cold water on speculation she could lose her job while Conservative MPs have been tripping over one another to heap praise on the Home Secretary.

In response to criticism of Patel from Labour in the Commons, her colleagues compared her to the Iron Lady and shrugged off the allegations as rooted in sexism and a general suspicion of the government’s transformative agenda. One party insider gripes that were another minister facing these allegations, they wouldn’t have be given such special treatment.

To understand why the No. 10 operation is at such pains to protect Patel from criticism, one needs to understand why she was appointed in the first place. Although it left many liberal Conservatives aghast, Patel’s appointment was key to sending a message to the Tories’ new electoral base.

‘She’s made a fatal error’, says a Whitehall insider

Although a Tory colleague once described Patel as “more right wing than Thatcher”, there’s a sense in No. 10 that Patel is more in tune with the country on law and order than the bulk of the Westminster bubble.

That judgment call paid off at the election. Despite the fact that violent crime has risen under years of Tory rule, Patel’s tough rhetoric on the issue saw the party successfully distance themselves from the record of previous Conservative governments. They won with an election campaign focussed on boosting police numbers and bringing in tougher sentences.

It’s also the case that Patel is a favourite among the Tory grassroots. She is one of the few of the current Cabinet ministers who has star credentials, including the ability to pack a room full of activists to hear her speak. She was used as Boris Johnson’s warm-up act at the opening rally of the Tory campaign.

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That’s not to say that No. 10 aides view her as the perfect politician. They believe that she is on their side and share a desire to change the way the civil service works. But there’s also a sense that she can be a live wire and lacking on detail. Patel recently had two of her close aides leave government or move to other departments. It’s been read as a sign that No. 10 wanted to rein her in by bringing in their own staff to work with her. Civil servants complain that she isn’t on their level intellectually.

But this all goes back to the calculation that No. 10 has made: the risk that comes with having Patel in such a senior role is worth taking on the grounds that she represents what Johnson’s Tory party is trying to do.

Despite this, ministers are now beginning to conclude it’s only a matter of time before she is moved on. For all the public displays of solidarity, there is a sense that it could become untenable for her to stay in the position in the long term.

“She’s made a fatal error. The civil servants are all against her. The Home Office is full of traps,” says a Whitehall old timer. “They’ll let her fall into one and she’ll be forced out.” Cabinet ministers have begun joking that they could be heading for promotion: “A great office of state could soon be vacant.”

Given that Patel’s downfall has reverberations for Johnson’s premiership – and the Prime Minister’s own judgement, any move would need to be done delicately. There are whispers among Tory MPs that a “tidy” solution could involve Patel moving to a less high profile Cabinet role by the end of the year. With a bruising court case now in the works, Patel’s position has become a case of damage limitation for Johnson.

Katy Balls is deputy political editor at ‘The Spectator’ magazine