Penny Mordaunt

Penelope Mary Mordaunt (born 4 March 1973) is a British politician who serves as Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council since 2022.

Penelope Mary Mordaunt was born on 4 March 1973 in Torquay, Devon.

The daughter of a former paratrooper, she says that she was named after HMS Penelope (97).

Her father, John Mordaunt, born at Hilsea Barracks, served in the Parachute Regiment before retraining as a teacher, and later became a youth worker for Hampshire County Council.

Her mother, Jennifer (née Snowden), was a special needs teacher at schools in Purbrook.

Through her mother she is a relative of Philip Snowden, the first Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer.

The actress Dame Angela Lansbury was her grandmother's cousin, thus she is distantly related to former Labour Party leader George Lansbury.

Mordaunt has two brothers: her twin, James, and a younger brother, Edward.

She was educated at Oaklands Roman Catholic School in Waterlooville, Hampshire, and studied drama at the Victoryland Theatre School.

Mordaunt was 15 when her mother died of breast cancer and after leaving school, she became her younger brother Edward's primary caregiver.

The following year her father was also diagnosed with cancer, from which he recovered.

To support her time at university Mordaunt worked in a Johnson & Johnson factory, and became a magician's assistant to Will Ayling, a past president of the Portsmouth and District Magic Circle and of the British Ring of the International Brotherhood of Magicians.

Mordaunt has attributed her interest in politics to her experiences whilst working in hospitals and orphanages of Romania in the aftermath of the 1989 revolution.

Mordaunt read philosophy at the University of Reading, graduating in 1995 with upper second class honours.

Although her parents had both undertaken further education, Mordaunt was the first member of her family to attend university.

Mordaunt was active in student politics and served as president of the Reading University Students' Union.

After graduation, Mordaunt worked in public relations in various sectors.

She worked as a communications specialist for the Freight Transport Association (now Logistics UK) from 1997 to 1999.

Under Prime Minister John Major she was Head of Youth for the Conservative Party, before working for two years as Head of Broadcasting for the Conservatives under party leader William Hague (1999–2001).

She held roles under Conservative Party leaders John Major and William Hague, and also worked for George W. Bush's presidential campaigns in 2000 and 2004.

In 2000, she worked briefly as Head of Foreign Press for George W. Bush's presidential campaign.

A member of the Conservative Party, she has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Portsmouth North since the 2010 general election.

She has run twice for the Conservative party leadership in July–September and October 2022, losing to Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak respectively.

Mordaunt read philosophy at the University of Reading, before working in the public relations industry.

Mordaunt was elected to the House of Commons at the 2010 general election.

Under the coalition government of David Cameron, she served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Decentralisation from 2014 to 2015.

After the 2015 general election, Cameron promoted her to Minister of State for the Armed Forces, the first woman to hold the post.

Mordaunt supported Brexit in the 2016 referendum on EU membership.

Following Theresa May's appointment as Prime Minister, Mordaunt was appointed Minister of State for Disabled People, Work and Health.

In 2017, following the resignation of Priti Patel, she was appointed Secretary of State for International Development.

She also served as Minister for Women and Equalities from 2018 to 2019.

In May 2019, Mordaunt was appointed to the Cabinet position of Secretary of State for Defence, replacing Gavin Williamson, becoming the first woman to hold the post.

She served as Defence Secretary for 85 days before returning to the backbenches, having been removed from office by the new Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

In the February 2020 reshuffle, she re-entered government as Paymaster General.

In the 2021 reshuffle, she was appointed Minister of State for Trade Policy.

Following Johnson's announcement in July 2022 that he would resign as Leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister, Mordaunt entered the leadership contest to succeed him, but was eliminated in the final round of voting among Conservative MPs and subsequently endorsed Truss.

Mordaunt was appointed as Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council when Truss became Prime Minister.

Following Truss's resignation on 20 October 2022, Mordaunt made a second bid to become Conservative leader and Prime Minister.

She pulled out of the election after being unable to gain the necessary endorsement of 100 MPs, allowing Sunak to become Conservative Leader and Prime Minister unopposed.

Sunak later retained Mordaunt in his cabinet, continuing as Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President, giving her a role at the coronation of Charles III and Camilla.