Priti Patel has denied having ever supported the death penalty, despite previously calling for it to be reintroduced, as she used her first interview as home secretary to say she wanted criminals to “literally feel terror”.

The ardent Brexiteer was appointed to the Home Office by Boris Johnson last month after two years as a backbencher, prompting controversy over her past support for capital punishment.

However, Ms Patel has now insisted that her previous claims did not mean she was an “active supporter” of the death penalty.

She told the Daily Mail her comments on the issue were “constantly taken out of context” and claimed that footage of her endorsing the death penalty “may have been clipped”.

Ms Patel was sacked as international development secretary by Theresa May in 2017 after holding undeclared meetings with the Israeli government, but made a stunning return to government under Mr Johnson.

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In her latest interview, she claimed she had previously been asked about deterrents in crime and said: “I think we need more deterrents obviously”.

Appearing on the BBC’s Question Time in 2011, Ms Patel said: “I do actually think when we have a criminal justice system that continuously fails in this country and where we have seen murderers, rapists and people who have committed the most abhorrent crimes in society, go into prison and then are released from prison to go out into the community to then re-offend and do the types of crime they have committed again and again.

“I think that’s appalling. And actually on that basis alone I would actually support the reintroduction of capital punishment to serve as a deterrent, because I do think we do not have enough deterrents in this country for criminals.”

She also told the Mail on Sunday in 2006, the year she was chosen as a Conservative candidate: “If you had the ultimate punishment for the murder of policemen and other heinous crimes, I am sure it would act as a deterrent. We must send a clear signal to people that crime doesn’t pay. The punishment must fit the crime and yes, I do support capital punishment.”

Priti Patel in profile

Mr Johnson has pledged to spend £1.1bn on 20,000 more police officers over the next three years.

As the cabinet minister tasked with implementing the policy, Ms Patel said she wanted to make potential criminals “literally feel terror”.

She said: “I’ve always felt the Conservative Party is the party of the police and police officers.

“Quite frankly, with more police officers out there and greater police presence, I want [criminals] to literally feel terror at the thought of committing offences.”

She added: “My focus now is restating our commitment to law and order and restating our commitment to the people on the front line, the police.

“The key thing is that we empower them to stop criminality.”

Ms Patel said: “The Conservative Party is the party of law and order. Full stop. The defence of our nation, defence of our streets and law and order are at the heart of our values.”

But Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrats' home affairs spokesperson, said: "Priti Patel’s notion that making people terrified of the police will cut crime shows just how out of touch she is with what’s leading some young people into crime in the first place.