Can Priti Patel survive as UK Home Secretary?

It is generally believed in Whitehall and Westminster that if a prime minister rushes to defend a minister, his or her days may be numbered. The British Home Secretary Priti Patel has found herself in a pickle for several weeks accused of violating the ministerial code. A spokesman for her said: “The Home Secretary categorically denies all of these allegations.” Conservative party Prime Minister Boris Johnson, without specifically addressing the charges against her, insisted in the House of Commons she was doing an “outstanding” job. The Guardian wrote that he “failed to confirm if he knew bullying allegations had been levelled against Priti Patel before appointing her as home secretary”. This was a reference to her alleged misbehaviour in two other government department prior to holding her current position. An inquiry by the cabinet office has now been instituted into the matter.

As accusations against Patel flew thick and fast, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office Michael Gove was assigned to defend her. Fairly early in her terms as home secretary, Patel, an admirer of Narendra Modi, was perceived by senior civil servants to be out of her depth. Eventually on 29 February the permanent secretary at the Home Office, Sir Philip Rutnam, resigned; and has complained to a tribunal about being compelled to terminate his service prematurely.

“Allegations have been made that the Home Secretary has breached the ministerial code,” Gove stated in the house. He added: “The Prime Minister has expressed his full confidence in her.” But he confirmed: “The Prime Minister has asked the Cabinet Office to establish the facts.” Sir Alex Allan, the independent adviser on Ministers’ interests, is available for consultation on the issue.

Dissatisfied with the statement, leader of the opposition Labour party, Jeremy Corbyn, asserted: “If the serious allegations raised by the permanent secretary at the Home Office, Sir Philip Rutnam, about the Home Secretary’s conduct are true – including ‘shouting and swearing, belittling people, making unreasonable and repeated demands’ – that would clearly constitute a breach of the ministerial code.” He demanded: “The Government must now call in an external lawyer, as has quite rightly been suggested by the union of senior civil servants, the First Division Association.”

Corbyn cited: “Most disturbingly, the Home Secretary reportedly asked officials to reverse a court ruling halting the deportation of 25 individuals to Jamaica last month.” Labour MP Janet Daby, who is partly of Indo-Guyanese origin, underlined this by asking: “Has the Home Secretary ever asked officials in her Department to act in breach of court ruling?” Gove replied: “I have absolutely no reason to believe that that is the case.”

Meanwhile, media reports revealed that a former aide of Patel in the Department for Works and Pensions had received a £25,000 payout after she took an overdose of pills because she was allegedly bullied by the minister.

Patel, a right-wing, pro-Brexit politician who has controversially advocated the return of the death penalty, was publicly defended by some 90 allies. In a letter to the Daily Telegraph, they maintained she has “never crossed a line”, adding: “We do not recognise the picture that has been painted of her.” The signatories included Lords Ranbir Suri and Rami Ranger.

Home Secretary in the United Kingdom cabinet is senior position demanding discretion, experience, judgement and sensitivity. Few last a full term of government. Since the Second World War, James Chuter Ede, under Labour Prime Minister Clement Attlee, served six years in this ministry. The tenures of most others have been short-lived, barring William Whitelaw and Douglas Hurd, who each spent four years as Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s home secretaries; and Jack Straw in Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair’s administration.

The first woman to occupy the post was Labour’s Jacqui Smith between 2007 and 2009. The next was Conservative Theresa May (later to become prime minister), who was in-charge between 2010 and 2016. She was succeeded by Amber Rudd, who held office from 2016 to 2018. In other words, two of the past three home secretaries did not last beyond a couple of years.

In 2017, Patel was unceremoniously sacked as International Development Secretary by May after she engaged in unauthorised meetings with government officials in Israel while holidaying there. What fate awaits Patel now should be known soon. Often such cases are determined by the extent of pressure the opposition is able to sustain. To her good fortune, the public and therefore political priority to containing the coronavirus has shifted focus away from the home secretary. At the same time, the civil service in Britain is a powerful institution, which a politician would trample over at his or her peril. Besides, the internal investigation underway would need to produce a credible conclusion to convince both bureaucrats and opposition parties. Last but not the least, Rutnam’s pursuance of what he alleges is his forced and unfair departure, could summon Patel as well as Johnson as witnesses before the tribunal, which a prime minister would normally wish to avoid.

Johnson has strategically surrounded himself with lightweight politicians in the upper echelons of his cabinet, so as perhaps not to face a contest of any kind from within. Moreover, two of the top three ministerial responsibilities (unlike India, in the UK the defence portfolio is not in the same league) are entrusted to minority figures, namely Patel and Rishi Sunak, the chancellor of the exchequer, who has been an MP for less than five years. There are two more of Indian origin in the cabinet – Alok Sharma and Suella Braverman.

While the Conservatives have admittedly come a long way from being primarily an indigeous white party, their rank and file remain somewhat rooted to the past. People of Jewish origin have made headway in English politics for a considerable period; but the rise of South Asians is a relatively recent phenomenon. Thus, how the Tory backbenches in the House of Commons are actually relishing Johnson’s conspicuous promotion of colleagues of Indian descent to top cabinet posts, could dictate their backing of Patel.