Suella Braverman

Following increasingly violent protests against Israel’s response to Hamas attacks, Suella Braverman called out policing standards. She claimed more fashionable causes like this were indulged. Those objecting to lockdowns a few years earlier enjoyed rather different treatment.

Braverman’s second stint as Home Secretary ended on the back of those comments. But they typify why she remains such a popular figure in the UK Conservative Party and is touted by many as a future leader.

Supporters see her as willing to stand up for traditional conservative values. She took voters’ concerns about immigration seriously, pursuing a deal with Rwanda to quell ever-rising migration numbers. Braverman has also been vocal in the culture wars, believing Western values are worth defending. 

Braverman is herself the daughter of immigrants and a self-described “child of the British Empire”. Her mother came from Mauritius and her father from Kenya. Braverman rejects the perception of this empire as wholly pernicious. She believes the values it instilled allowed her and others to prosper.  

Braverman studied Law at the University of Cambridge, followed by a Masters in Law (LLM) at the Pantheon-Sorbonne, University of Paris I.

A career as a barrister followed. She was appointed Treasury Counsel where she defended the UK government in litigation cases. A qualified New York attorney, she also enjoyed a short career stint in Manhattan.

Suella Braverman was elected as the MP for Fareham in 2015 and remains the constituency’s MP today. In the 2016 Brexit vote, Braverman campaigned and voted to leave the European Union. She was subsequently appointed a Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Treasury in 2017. 

Promotions followed, first as a Junior Minister in the Department for Exiting the European Union; then Attorney General for England and Wales; and finally Home Secretary under Liz Truss and again under Rishi Sunak. 

Braverman also made history as the first ever Cabinet Minister to take maternity leave after the birth of her daughter in March 2021.