Priti Patel announces she is quitting as home secretary after Truss victory

Priti Patel will quit as home secretary to return to the backbenches, she has announced, hours after Liz Truss won the Conservative leadership contest.

In a letter to Boris Johnson, who remains prime minister until he formally hands his resignation to the Queen on Tuesday, Patel said she would offer her full support to the new government.

Patel was widely expected to be replaced as home secretary by Suella Braverman, the former attorney general, so to some the move will look like an attempt to avoid the embarrassment of being sacked.

Patel said it was “the honour of my life to serve our country”, and defended the controversial Rwanda scheme to remove some asylum seekers, saying it was “vital” that her successor backed the plan.

She criticised the “relentless efforts of our political opponents, and leftwing activists, lawyers and campaigners” who had sought to block her immigration policies.

She claimed they wanted to “stand up for the criminals, terrorists, people smugglers, those with no right to be in the UK, and people who threaten public safety and would do our country harm”.

Patel added: “We have never faltered, and never stopped doing what is right to protect the public.”

Patel was tipped for demotion in the last major government reshuffle, carried out by Johnson in September 2021, because of her failure to deliver on a pledge to reduce the number of people arriving on small boats across the Channel.

Cabinet Office minister Nigel Adams and Tory party co-chair Ben Elliot also announced they were quitting.

Patel was one of Johnson’s most ardent supporters during his leadership bid, and paid tribute to him in her resignation letter. “You set out a clear plan to get Brexit done, broke the deadlock in parliament, and secured a historic Conservative victory at the 2019 general election,” Patel wrote.

She added that the issue of Channel crossings had been “frustrating”, but insisted that she had worked relentlessly to end them.

Her letter announcing her intention to resign effectively fires the starting gun on the reshuffle, not expected to be carried out until Tuesday afternoon, after Truss has been to see the Queen and officially become prime minister.

Over the weekend, the refugees minister, Richard Harrington, also quit. He claimed he was stepping down because his job was essentially complete, but the timing of his departure suggests he expected his role was not likely to be renewed by the incoming administration.

In private, Lord Harrington has made no secret of his disdain for the Rwanda policy that Truss enthusiastically backed during the Tory leadership contest.