Penny Mordaunt is a British politician who has been serving as Minister of State for Trade Policy since 2021. A member of the Conservative Party, she has been the Member of Parliament (MP) representing Portsmouth North since 2010.
After Gavin Williamson was removed from his position as Secretary of State for Defense on May 1, 2019, Mordaunt was selected to fill that role, making her the first woman to ever hold that position.
Mordaunt’s position as Defense Secretary was terminated due to Boris Johnson’s actions. On July 24, 2019, she resigned from her position in the government.
Mordaunt was reappointed to a position in the government in February 2020 as part of a cabinet reshuffle. He replaced Oliver Dowden in the role of Paymaster General in the Cabinet Office.
She served on the EU Withdrawal Agreement Joint Committee as an alternate co-chair for the United Kingdom. During the 2021 cabinet reshuffle, she was promoted to the position of Minister of State for Trade Policy.
In July of 2022, Mordaunt began her campaign to become the next leader of the Conservative Party and, ultimately, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
An early promotional film issued by her campaign drew fire for using footage of Oscar Pistorius, a former professional sprinter who was convicted of murder in 2013 for the killing of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
Penny Mordaunt Disability: Penny Mordaunt Records As Minister of State for Disabled People
A user-led organization that provides assistance in her own district has criticized the incoming minister for handicapped people for her voting record on disability problems.
After Penny Mordaunt’s promotion to international development secretary, Cornish MP Sarah Newton was appointed as a replacement.
In his prior roles, Newton served as the director of Age Concern England, the first director of the International Longevity Center, and as a marketing executive for IBIS Hotels, Citibank, and the American Express credit card company, among other companies and organizations.