Suella Braverman sacked for second time. But who is she?
In a notable cabinet shake-up, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak named James Cleverly as the home secretary of the United Kingdom (UK), replacing Suella Braverman on Monday. This is the second time that the 43-year-old Conservative MP has been sacked. In 2022, then-PM Liz Truss removed her as home secretary after she shared government documents from her mail ID. Meanwhile, Former Prime Minister David Cameron, who has been on a seven-year hiatus, will replace Cleverly as foreign secretary.
Here's why PM Sunak sacked her
Braverman, a Tory leader of Indian descent who represents the party's hard-right faction, was dismissed by Sunak following a controversy surrounding her comments on law enforcement. In a November 9 newspaper piece, Braverman claimed there was "a perception that senior police officers play favorites when it comes to protesters," and that right-wing demonstrators encountered more forceful measures than pro-Palestinian "mobs." After her removal, Braverman expressed that serving as home secretary was "the greatest privilege" of her life.
Who is Suella Braverman?
Braverman was born Sue-Ellen Fernandes in April 1980 to immigrant parents. Per the BBC, her name was shorted from Sue-Ella to Suella by her teachers at school, where she was a high-flying girl. Both her father and mother are of Indian origin and met in London after leaving Kenya and Mauritius, respectively, to pursue their careers in the UK. In 2018, she married Rael Braverman, who works at Mercedes. It is pertinent to note that Rael is of Jewish origin.
Education and legal career
Suella studied law at the University of Cambridge, before moving to France. While in Cambridge, she chaired the university's Conservative Association, per BBC. Meanwhile, after moving to Paris, she gained a postgraduate degree in European and French law at Panthéon-Sorbonne University. Suella has passed the bar examination in both the UK and the United States. She has served as Attorney General for England and Wales in the Boris Johnson government from 2020 to 2022.
Political Career
Her first brush with politics was in 2005 when she unsuccessfully contested Leicester East. In 2015, she was elected as an MP from Fareham in Hampshire. Suella has been a staunch supporter of Brexit. In 2016, she was elected as a junior minister at the Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU). In 2022, she was appointed as Home Secretary by Truss but was sacked. Just six days later, she was reinstated in the position by Sunak.
