London, Jul 17 (PTI) Britain’s former home secretary, Priti Patel, is expected to contest the Conservative Party leadership race to replace Rishi Sunak as Opposition Leader in the House of Commons. According to UK media reports, the 52-year-old British Indian member of Parliament is considering throwing her hat in the ring after she won her Witham, Essex, seat with a comfortable margin even as her party suffered its worst defeat in the general election earlier this month. Sunak, 44, had announced his resignation on July 5 as the Labour Party landslide win unfolded and will attend the State Opening of Parliament on Wednesday as interim Opposition Leader until the election process for his successor has been finalised by the powerful 1922 Committee of backbench Tory MPs.
“Priti has kept a low profile and done her best to support others, she feels colleagues also need time to digest the general election result and don’t want posturing in the media from prospective candidates,” ‘The Daily Telegraph’ quoted a source close to the senior Tory MP as saying. “She has quietly put a team together, as many colleagues from different sides of the party have over the past week urged her to run and she now has key MP supporters and campaign staff in place including some high profile Conservative donors,” the source added. Patel, who also served as Indian Diaspora Champion in former prime minister David Cameron’s government, swore her oath as a re-elected MP in the House of C.
