Priti Patel, Britain's first Indian-origin cabinet minister resigned as International Development Secretary on Nov 8 evening, as the political crisis engulfing the British government intensified.
Ms. Patel's resignation came following an intense day at Westminster amid further revelations about Ms. Patel's dealings with senior Israeli politicians and a visit to Israel during a "family holiday" over the summer.
On Monday, Ms. Patel had publicly apologized for failing to disclose 12 meetings with senior Israeli politicians including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a "family holiday" to Israel in August.
After initially suggesting the FCO and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson had been in the loop since the outset, she admitted they had been made aware of the meetings while the trip was underway.
While Downing Street initially stood by her, subsequent revelations have made her position increasingly tenuous.
It also emerged that Ms. Patel had since commenced discussions within her department over sending aid money to the Israeli army for work in the Golan Heights.
The decision to allow Ms. Patel to stay after the initial details of the undisclosed meetings emerged faced widespread criticism both from within the Conservative Party and from opposition parties, including Labour, which called for her resignation or an investigation into whether the ministerial code had been breached.
Other UK India-origin Leaders- Mancherjee Bhownagree, Conservative MP; second Indian MP in British Parliament (deceased)
- Parmjit Dhanda, Labour MP.
- Nirj Deva, Conservative MEP.
- Piara Khabra, Labour MP (deceased).
- Ashok Kumar (British politician), Labour MP.
- Claude Moraes, Labour MEP.
- Dadabhai Naoroji, Liberal MP; first Indian MP in British Parliament (deceased)
- Shapurji Saklatvala, Communist MP.
- Marsha Singh, Labour MP.
- Parmjit Singh Gill, Liberal Democrats.
- Shailesh Vara, Conservative MP.
- Keith Vaz, Labour MP; longest-serving British Asian MP; former Minister for Europe and Privy Council member.
- Virendra Sharma - Labour MP and councillor in Ealing.
