One of the few Brexiteers at Secretary of State level, Priti was a strong voice for the global perspective, positivity and drive that the case for Brexit was built on. Although it is not her brief, her departure from government is a blow for the clean Brexit case within Cabinet.
In my view, Priti was hounded by anti-Israel and anti-Brexit voices, both within Parliament and without. As John Redwood has pointed out today on Twitter, various officials within Whitehall clearly do not like her. As Allister Heath writes in the Telegraph, some of her aims were guaranteed to drive the Arabists who dominate British officialdom mad.
When Priti Patel was interviewed by Grant Tucker of the Times at this year's Freedom Festival in Bournemouth, she showed her Thatcherite principles. We are convinced that she will continue to articulate these from the backbenches - and will have a lot of support from the Conservative membership at the grassroots level as a result. In the meantime, Number 10 has (at the time of writing) not yet announced her replacement as Secretary of State. Whoever it is, they must be bold in making the case for a Global Britain - free from the restrictions and meddling of the EU - both at home and abroad. They must continue to make the case that we are Better Off Out.
Written by Rory Broomfield,
Director of The Freedom Association and Better Off Out campaign.