London
Britain’s senior-most Indian-origin minister Priti Patel has resigned from her Cabinet post amid a political storm over her unauthorised secret meetings with Israeli politicians while on a holiday in the Jewish country.

Patel’s position as international development minister had become increasingly untenable after it emerged that she had two further meetings with Israeli officials that were not disclosed earlier.

The 45-year-old minister resigned last night after a meeting at Downing Street with Prime Minister Theresa May, who had summoned her midway from a tour of Africa.

In her resignation, Patel again apologised and said her actions “fell below the standards of transparency and openness that I have promoted and advocated”.

It follows a week of controversies around a dozen undisclosed meetings she had with other Israelis, including PM Benjamin Netanyahu, for which she had been forced to apologise.

Her departure from the Cabinet marks an abrupt halt to the meteoric rise of the Gujarati-origin MP, often touted as a potential future leader of the Conservative party and a PM candidate.

She was elected as a Conservative MP for Witham in Essex in 2010 and gained prominence in the then David Cameron-led Tory government as his ‘Indian Diaspora Champion’.

She went on to be appointed to junior ministerial posts, treasury minister in 2014 and then employment minister after the 2015 General Election, before May promoted her to secretary of state in the department for international development last year.