Home Secretary Patel was appointed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson in July 2019. Priti was elected as the first Member of Parliament for the Witham constituency in May 2010 and was subsequently re-elected in May 2015, June 2017 and December 2019.

Priti also held roles in Government as Minister of State for Employment, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury. She has also previously served as Chair of the APPG for Small Shops, Co-Chair of the APPG for Victims and Witnesses of Crime, and Vice-Chair of the Indo-British APPG.. She has also served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for International Development between July 2016 and November 2017. She has been actively involved in the Conservative Party since the 1990s. She is a grassroots campaigner and prides herself as a longstanding Conservative Party activist and volunteer over a 30 year period. She has also supported the Party in a number of roles including as an Association Chairman, an elected member of the Conservative Party Board and a member of the 1922 Committee.

Priti was educated at a comprehensive girls school in Watford. She went on to study economics at Keele University before completing her postgraduate studies at the University of Essex. She believes passionately in the principles of accountability, fairness and in standing up for her constituents. The first person of Indian origin to serve in this role.