Priti Patel, 47, resigned as International Development minister in November 2017 over undisclosed meetings with Israeli officials that breached diplomatic protocol.

She campaigned to leave the European Union in 2016, and since leaving government has been an outspoken critic of former Prime Minister Theresa May's approach to Brexit.

Earlier this week, Priti Patel, who also served as a junior Treasury minister, released a report on the British economy arguing for lower taxes and for a new Bank of England mandate more focused on asset price inflation and financial imbalances.

Priti Patel is English-born to Indian parents. In the EU referendum campaign she launched an appeal to "Save the British Curry" which argued that a post-Brexit immigration system would be fairer to those from outside the EU and ease a shortage of chefs for Indian restaurants in Britain.