PRITI Patel is a force of nature.

During her career as Home Secretary, she has made tough decisions which were, at best, controversial, at worst condemned with an avalanche of criticism.

And yet, rightly or wrongly, she stood by those decisions - determined, defiant, unapologetic.

Now she has resigned as Home Secretary in her last act of loyalty to her friend and ally, the former Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

It was unlikely she would have been given a place in the Cabinet under the new premiership of Liz Truss, but she was not about to wait and be pushed... she jumped first.

In her resignation letter, Ms Patel remained characteristically defiant.

She said: “It has been a great honour and privilege to serve our country as Home Secretary.

“Over the last three years I have worked to keep our country safe, given our police the investment and tools they need tackle crime, brought in new laws to protect victims of domestic abuse, and reformed our immigration and asylum system.

“I am proud of my record in office and full of admiration and respect for all those who work for the police, security and intelligence services, border control, and law enforcement to deliver our policies to protect the public and keep the country safe.

“As I return to the backbenches in Parliament, I look forward to continuing to be a strong voice for Witham in Westminster and champion the many causes, campaigns and policies I have stood up for inside and outside of Government.”

Ms Patel has come a long way in her relatively short political career.

Ms Patel was born in London and studied at a comprehensive girls school in Watford.

Her parents had emigrated to the UK in the 1960s and established a chain of newsagents in London and the South East of England.

She studied economics at Keele University and her interest in politics began during her postgraduate studies when she went on to study British Government and Politics at the University of Essex.

She was inspired to get involved in politics by the Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and was involved with the Referendum Party before switching allegiance to the Conservatives.

She joined the Conservative Party in 1991 and in November 2006, became the Conservative candidate seat for Witham, winning at the 2010 General Election with 24,448 votes.

In the General Election of May 2015, Ms Patel retained her parliamentary seat polling 27,123 votes.

After the election, she rose to her first Cabinet level role as Minister of State for Employment, and in 2016 was made International Development Secretary.

However, in 2017, Ms Patel was involved in a political scandal involving unauthorised meetings with the Israeli government, breaching the Ministerial Code, and forcing her to resign from the post.

Her relationship and support of Mr Johnson became cemented during the Brexit campaign.

In the snap General Election, she was re-elected as MP for Witham with 31,670 votes.

Ms Patel was appointed Home Secretary by Mr Johnson in July 2019 and was re-elected as MP for Witham having increased her votes to 32,876.

She threw herself into the role of Home Secretary producing tough, uncompromising speeches.

She oversaw the reactions to the terror attacks on London Bridge and the deaths of 39 migrants in the back of a lorry in Grays.

She drew up a new pointsbased immigration system and was involved in an asylum deal with Rwanda to address the growing number of migrants crossing the English Channel from France.

Under her policy, the Government said “anyone entering the UK illegally” could be sent, with no limit on numbers.

However, after a series of legal challenges no asylum seeker has actually been sent from the UK to Rwanda.

In the meantime, the threat of deportation appears to have done nothing to stop the flow of migrants.

More than 25,000 people have crossed the English Channel in small boats this year compared to 28,526 crossings in the whole of 2021 and just 8,404 in 2020.

As Ms Patel returns to the backbenches of Parliament and her role as Witham MP, she will remain solidly defiant.

And will she be back in Government, you would not bet against her.