Since being elected as Member of Parliament for Witham in 2010, Priti Patel has faced controversy a number of times.

The 45-year-old studied at Keele and Essex universities and began working in Conservative Central Office in 1997.

She joined the front bench as a Treasury minister in 2014, before becoming employment minister after the 2015 general election, where she increased her majority by 5.3 per cent.

A prominent Brexiteer, Ms Patel took on the role of Secretary of State for International Development in July 2016.

Shortly after the appointment, it emerged in 2013 that Ms Patel had called for the foreign aid department to be scrapped in its current form.

She laterconfirmed she wanted the department to continue and backed Britain’s legal commitment to spend 0.7 per cent of gross national income on aid.

She previously advocated bringing back the death penalty, before later saying she did not support it.

Ms Patel was also accused of ‘’divide and rule politics’’ during the European Union referendum campaign after claiming in May that ‘’biased’’ immigration policy prevents curry chefs from outside the EU from working in Britain.

Ms Patel has consistently increased the Tory majority in Witham.