Priti Patel (born 29 March 1972) is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Witham constituency in Essex since 2010, and is now the Minister of State for Employment, since 11 May 2015, sitting in the cabinet. She is also a member of the Public Administration Select Committee. A member of the Conservative Party, she is ideologically located on the right-wing of the party.Patel was born in London to a Ugandan Asian migrant family.