Suella Braverman | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2024 | |
| Home Secretary | |
| In office 25 October 2022 – 13 November 2023 | |
| Prime Minister | Rishi Sunak |
| Preceded by | Grant Shapps |
| Succeeded by | James Cleverly |
| In office 6 September 2022 – 19 October 2022 | |
| Prime Minister | Liz Truss |
| Preceded by | Priti Patel |
| Succeeded by | Grant Shapps |
| Attorney General for England and Wales Advocate General for Northern Ireland | |
| In office 10 September 2021 – 6 September 2022 | |
| Prime Minister | Boris Johnson |
| Preceded by | Michael Ellis |
| Succeeded by | Michael Ellis |
| In office 13 February 2020 – 2 March 2021 | |
| Prime Minister | Boris Johnson |
| Preceded by | Geoffrey Cox |
| Succeeded by | Michael Ellis |
| Minister on Leave | |
| In office 2 March 2021 – 10 September 2021 | |
| Prime Minister | Boris Johnson |
| Interim | Michael Ellis[a] |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union | |
| In office 9 January 2018 – 15 November 2018 | |
| Prime Minister | Theresa May |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Kwasi Kwarteng |
| Chair of theEuropean Research Group | |
| In office 19 June 2017 – 9 January 2018 | |
| Deputy | Michael Tomlinson |
| Preceded by | Steve Baker |
| Succeeded by | Jacob Rees-Mogg |
| Deputy Chair of theEuropean Research Group | |
| In office 20 November 2016 – 19 June 2017 Serving with Michael Tomlinson | |
| Chair | Steve Baker |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Michael Tomlinson |
| Member of Parliament | |
| Assumed office 7 May 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Mark Hoban |
| Constituency | Fareham and Waterlooville (2024–) Fareham (2015–2024) |
| Majority | 6,079 (12.1%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Sue-Ellen Fernandes (1980-04-03)April 3, 1980 (age 45) |
| Party | Reform UK (2026–present) |
| Other political affiliations | Conservative (2002–2026) |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater | (LLM) |
| Occupation |
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| Signature |  |
| Website | suellabraverman |
Sue-Ellen Braverman (/suˈɛləˈbrævərmən/;[1]néeFernandes; born 1980) is a British politician and barrister who served asHome Secretary from 6 September 2022 to 19 October 2022, and again from 25 October 2022 to 13 November 2023.
As a member of theConservatives, she was chair of theEuropean Research Group from 2017 to 2018 andAttorney General for England and Wales from 2020 to March 2021, and again from September 2021 to 2022. She has been theMember of Parliament (MP) forFareham and Waterlooville, previouslyFareham, since 2015. Braverman was elected as a member of theConservative Party, but joinedReform UK on 26 January 2026.[2]
In theJanuary 2018 cabinet reshuffle, Braverman was appointedparliamentary under-secretary of state for exiting the European Union by Prime MinisterTheresa May. In November 2018, she resigned in protest against May's draftBrexit withdrawal agreement. Braverman was appointed attorney general for England and Wales andadvocate general for Northern Ireland by Prime MinisterBoris Johnson in theFebruary 2020 cabinet reshuffle; she was appointed asQueen's Counsel automatically on her appointment.
FollowingJohnson announcing his resignation in July 2022, Braverman stood as a candidate to succeed him in theJuly–September Conservative Party leadership election; she was eliminated from the ballot after the second round of voting. She subsequently supportedLiz Truss's bid to become Conservative leader, and was appointed home secretary on 6 September 2022 when Truss became prime minister. Braverman resigned as home secretary on 19 October 2022 following public claims that she had broken theMinisterial Code after having sent a Cabinet document using her personal email address. Six days later, she was reinstated as home secretary by Truss's successorRishi Sunak. She was dismissed from her post by Sunak in theNovember 2023 British cabinet reshuffle.
Braverman was born on 3 April 1980[3][4] inHarrow, London, and raised inWembley.[5] She is the daughter of Uma (née Mootien-Pillay) and Christie Fernandes,[6] both of Indian origin,[7][8] who immigrated to Britain in the 1960s fromMauritius andKenya respectively. She is named after the characterSue Ellen Ewing from the American television soap operaDallas, of which her mother was a fan, but Sue-Ellen was abbreviated to Suella by her primary school teachers.[9] Her mother, ofHinduTamil Mauritian descent, was a nurse and a councillor inBrent,[8] and the Conservative candidate forTottenham in the2001 general election and the2003 Brent East by-election.[8] Her father, ofGoan Catholic ancestry (who formerly was anIndian in Kenya),[10][11] worked for a housing association.[5] She is the niece of Mahen Kundasamy, a formerMauritian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.[6][12]
She attended the Uxendon Manor Primary School inBrent and thefee-payingHeathfield School, Pinner, on a partial scholarship,[5][13] after which she read law atQueens' College, Cambridge. During her undergraduate studies, she was chairman of theCambridge University Conservative Association.[14]
Braverman lived in France for two years, as anErasmus Programme student and then as anEntente Cordiale Scholar, where she studied for a master's degree in European and French law atPanthéon-Sorbonne University.[15]
Braverman wascalled to the bar atMiddle Temple in 2005.[16][17] She completedpupillage at 2–3 Gray's Inn Square (nowCornerstone Barristers)[18] but did not start tenancy there, beginning practice at the London branch of a large Birmingham set,No5 Chambers. She worked in litigation including the judicial review "basics" for a government practitioner of immigration and planning law.[16][19] She passed theNew York bar examination in 2006, becoming licensed to practise law in the state until the licence was suspended in 2021 after she did not re-register as an attorney.[b] She was appointed to the Attorney General's C panel of counsel, the entry level, undertaking basic government cases, in 2010.[21]
Braverman founded the Africa Justice Foundation in 2010 alongside barristersCherie Booth and Philip Riches.[22][23]
Braverman's name was already on the list of Conservative parliamentary candidates at the time of the2003 Brent East by-election, and she had to be persuaded not to seek the nomination. Her mother, Uma Fernandes, a Conservative councillor, was selected to fight the seat, and Braverman campaigned for her.[8] During the campaign, Braverman (as Fernandes) was included in an article inThe Guardian newspaper with title "The road to No 10".[24]
At the2005 general election, Braverman contestedLeicester East, finishing in second place behindLabour'sKeith Vaz, who won with a 15,876-vote (38.4%) majority.[25] She sought selection as the Conservative candidate inBexhill and Battle, but was unsuccessful,[26] and was eventually selected to be the Conservative candidate forFareham inHampshire.[27] Braverman also sought election to theLondon Assembly at the2012 Assembly elections and was placed fourth on the Conservative London-wide list;[28] only the first three Conservative candidates were elected.[29]
Braverman was elected to theHouse of Commons as the MP forFareham at the2015 general election with 56.1% of the vote and a majority of 22,262.[30] She gave her maiden speech on 1 June 2015.[31] She has taken a particular interest in education, home affairs and justice and has written forThe Daily Telegraph,Bright Blue,i News,HuffPost,Brexit Central andConservativeHome.[32] She was a member of the British delegation to theParliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe from 2015 to 2017, and was a full member of the Assembly's Committee on the Election of Judges to the European Court of Human Rights.[33]
Braverman opened aWestminster Hall debate in the House of Commons[34] on the failings ofSouthern Health NHS Foundation Trust and chaired meetings with the Trust's executives and with other MPs on the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Hampshire, in which instances of poor care quality and the deaths of patients were investigated.[35]
Braverman campaigned toleave the European Union in the2016 EU membership referendum; a majority (55%) of votes in her constituency were for Leave.[36] She was chair of theEuropean Research Group, a pro-Leave group of Conservative MPs, from May 2017 until her promotion to ministerial office; she was replaced byJacob Rees-Mogg.[37] At the2017 general election, Braverman was re-elected, increasing her share of the vote to 63.0% but decreasing her majority to 21,555.[38] Following the election, she was appointedparliamentary private secretary to the ministers of the Treasury.[39]
During theJanuary 2018 reshuffle, Braverman was appointed asparliamentary under-secretary of state at theDepartment for Exiting the European Union.[40] On 15 November 2018, Braverman resigned on the same day thatDavid Davis' successor,Dominic Raab, resigned as Brexit secretary in protest atTheresa May andOlly Robbins's draft Brexit deal, which had been released the day before.[41]
In March 2019, Braverman stated in a speech for theBruges Group that "as Conservatives, we are engaged in a battle againstCultural Marxism". JournalistDawn Foster challenged Braverman's use of the term "cultural Marxism", highlighting its antisemitic history and stating it was a theory in the manifesto of the mass murdererAnders Breivik.[42] Braverman's use of the term was initially condemned ashate speech by other MPs, theBoard of Deputies of British Jews and theanti-racist organisationHope not Hate, among other anti-racist charities. Braverman denied that the term was an antisemitic trope, saying, "We have culture evolving from the far left which has allowed the snuffing out of freedom of speech, freedom of thought. ... I'm very aware of that ongoing creep of cultural Marxism, which has come fromJeremy Corbyn."[43] After meeting with her later, the Board of Deputies of British Jews said in a subsequent statement that she is "not in any way antisemitic", saying it believed that she did not "intentionally use antisemitic language", while finding that she "is clearly a good friend of theJewish community" and that they were "sorry to see that the whole matter has caused distress".[44]
At the2019 general election, Braverman was again re-elected, increasing her share of the vote to 63.7% and increasing her majority to 26,086.[45]
Under the2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, her Fareham constituency was dissolved and merged with part ofMeon Valley to form "Fareham and Waterlooville".[46] Her rival in the selection process was Meon Valley MPFlick Drummond.[47] On 5 April 2023, the re-selection vote was held and Braverman won the vote by 77 votes to 54.[48]
At the2024 general election, Braverman was elected to Parliament as MP forFareham and Waterlooville with 35% of the vote and a majority of 6,079.[49]
In the13 February 2020 reshuffle, Braverman was appointedAttorney General for England and Wales andadvocate general for Northern Ireland, succeedingGeoffrey Cox who had been dismissed from government.[50] Braverman was madeQC at the time of this appointment.[11] She was later criticised by members of theBar Council for her poor choices in the role.[51]
Braverman was designated as aminister on leave while pregnant on 2 March 2021,[52] shortly after theMinisterial and other Maternity Allowances Act 2021 was enacted to allow this arrangement.Michael Ellis became acting attorney general until she resumed office on 11 September 2021.[53]
During theJuly 2022 United Kingdom government crisis, Braverman remained a minister, though on 6 July 2022, she called forBoris Johnson to resign.[54] She stood in theensuing Conservative Party leadership election, but was eliminated from the race in the second round of ballots, winning 27 votes, a reduction on her vote in the first round and the lowest of the remaining candidates.[55] She then endorsedLiz Truss.[56]
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Had she succeeded in being appointed prime minister, Braverman said her priorities would have been to deliver tax cuts, cut government spending, tackle the cost of living challenges, "solve the problem of boats crossing the Channel", deliver "Brexit opportunities", withdraw the UK from theEuropean Convention of Human Rights and "get rid of all of thiswoke rubbish".[57] She also said she would suspend the UK's target ofnet zero carbon emissions by 2050.[58] In August 2022,The Guardian reported that Braverman's leadership campaign had received a £10,000 donation from a company owned by theclimate change denierTerence Mordaunt.[59]
Braverman was appointedHome Secretary in the newTruss ministry on 6 September 2022.[60]
In October 2022, Braverman said that she would love to see a front page ofThe Daily Telegraphsending asylum seekers to Rwanda, and described it as her "dream" and "obsession".[61] The first attempted flight by the UK to send asylum seekers toRwanda in June 2022 resulted in asylum seekers being restrained and attached to plane seats afterself-harming and threateningsuicide.[61] On the matter, theUN Refugee Agency said that the "arrangement, which amongst other concerns seeks to shift responsibility and lacks necessary safeguards, is incompatible with the letter and spirit of the1951 Convention" in regard to the rights ofrefugees.[62] LaterAmber Rudd, a former ConservativeHome Secretary, criticised the plans to send some asylum seekers toRwanda as "brutal" and "impractical".[63]
In October 2022, in the midst of a speech advocating for the government'sPublic Order Bill, she held responsible the "coalition of chaos" formed byLabour, theLiberal Democrats, and the progressive activists she referred to as the "Guardian-reading, tofu-eating wokerati", for the series of protests that led to disruptive scenarios on the streets of London.[64][65]
Braverman left her cabinet position asHome Secretary on 19 October 2022. She said that her departure was because she had made an "honest mistake" by sharing an official document from her personal email address with a colleague in Parliament,Sir John Hayes, an action which breached theMinisterial Code.[66][67][68] Braverman was highly critical of Truss's leadership in her resignation letter.[69]
On 25 October 2022, Braverman was reappointed as theHome Secretary by Prime MinisterRishi Sunak upon the formation of theSunak ministry.[70] Braverman's reappointment was challenged byLabour Party MPs,Liberal Democrats,Scottish National Party MPs and some Conservatives. TheLabour leader andLeader of the Opposition,Keir Starmer, raised it as the subject of his first question toRishi Sunak at Sunak's firstPrime Minister's questions on 26 October 2022. Sunak said Braverman "made an error of judgment but she recognised that she raised the matter and she accepted her mistake".[71][72][73][74]Jake Berry, who was dismissed by Sunak after becoming PM, said that "from my own knowledge, there were multiple breaches of the ministerial code".[75]
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There were demands byLabour and theLiberal Democrats, as well as Conservative MPCaroline Nokes, for an inquiry into Braverman's return to the cabinet despite the alleged security breach.[76][77] The government did not launch an inquiry into Braverman.[78] ThePublic Administration and Constitutional Affairs Select Committee was strongly critical of the decision to reappoint Braverman. The committee stated that reappointing Braverman created a dangerous precedent. Leaking restricted material "is worthy of significant sanction under the new graduated sanctions regime (...) including resignation and a significant period out of office."[79] The committee also stated a later change in prime minister should not allow a minister to return to office in a shorter period. "To allow this (...) does not inspire confidence in the integrity of government nor offer much incentive to proper conduct in future."[80]
In January 2023, Braverman dropped three of the 30 recommendations set out in theWindrush Lessons Learned Review. These recommendations, which had been accepted by then home secretaryPriti Patel, concerned organizing reconciliation events, enhancing the powers of theIndependent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, and committing to the establishment of a Migrants' Commissioner. In June 2024 theHigh Court ruled that this decision was unlawful.[81]
In March 2023, Braverman visitedRwanda and viewed housing which might be used byasylum seekers.[82] The Court of Appeal judges have rendered a verdict stating that sending asylum seekers to Rwanda for claim processing is unlawful.[83] The judges concluded that government officials were mistaken in placing their trust in unsupported guarantees fromRwanda, where it was acknowledged that inadequate procedures would be enhanced.[84]
Braverman's comments on illegal immigration have spoken of "invasion" and on child protection from "grooming gangs" – language criticised by "Tory MPs, peers and activists", alongside international agencies and rights groups, as inflammatory,[85][86] withSayeeda Warsi calling it "racist rhetoric", and an anonymous former senior minister underBoris Johnson saying "Conservative reputation on discrimination has dropped to a new low" on Braverman's watch.[87][88] A Home Office spokesperson responded that the home secretary would "not shy away from telling hard truths",[85] a sentiment reiterated by Braverman, who said it was "not racist" to tell "plain truths",[89] or to want to cut illegal immigration.[90]
Downing Street meanwhile denied that the talk of "grooming gangs" was indicative of the party resorting todog-whistle politics.[91] In October 2022, Braverman likewise stated that it was "not racist" to want to control the UK's borders.[92] Joan Salter, aHolocaust survivor, confronted Braverman over her rhetoric on 14 January 2023. Salter told Braverman, "When I hear you using words against refugees like 'swarms' and an 'invasion', I am reminded of the language used to dehumanise and justify the murder of my family and millions of others."[93] Ruling on a complaint made about an article inThe Mail on Sunday written by Braverman,Ipso said in September 2023 that her comment about British-Pakistani men's involvement inchild sexual abuse gangs was "significantly misleading".[94]
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In April 2023, Braverman unveiled a proposition to house approximately 500 single adult men onBibby Stockholm, a barge. The proposal was implemented in August of the same year[95][96] and sparked a notable political response amongst bothLabour andConservative MPs due to the backdrop of the Home Office's escalated stringent policies targeting refugees, intended to curtail the frequency of small boat crossings amid the European migrant crisis.[97][98][99][100] On 2 August 2023, theFire Brigades Union (FBU) wrote to Braverman to request a meeting to talk about their concerns over the safety of the barge.[101]
In July 2023, Braverman personally intervened to prevent Siyabonga Twala, a British resident who had travelled fromManchester toIstanbul for a family holiday, from returning to the UK, ordering his exclusion "on the basis of serious criminality" in relation to acannabis offence five years previously.[102] Siyabonga Twala's solicitors said Braverman's intervention set a "worrying precedent" for the use of exclusion order in barring people from reentry into the UK in setting "such a low bar to what is considered a serious criminal".[102] In June 2024, just before a court hearing, the Home Office withdrew the exclusion order, enabling Twala to return to the UK.[103]
In November 2023, Braverman proposed new laws inEngland andWales to limit the use of tents by homeless people, stating that many of them see it as "a lifestyle choice". She said the government would always support those who were genuinely homeless, but planned to stop "those who cause nuisance and distress to other people by pitching tents in public spaces, aggressively begging, stealing, taking drugs, littering and blighting our communities." Her comments were criticised by opposition MPs. The Housing charityShelter said: "Living on the streets is not a lifestyle choice."[104][105]Rishi Sunak later cancelled her plan to restrict the use of tents by homeless people.[106]
Following theOctober 7 attacks on Israel, Braverman said in a letter to chief constables inEngland and Wales: "I would encourage police to consider whether chants such as: 'From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free' (...) in certain contexts may amount to a racially aggravatedsection 5 public order offence", adding that "Behaviours that are legitimate in some circumstances, for example the waving of aPalestinian flag, may not be legitimate such as when intended to glorify acts ofterrorism".[107]
She later describedsubsequent pro-Palestine marches during theGaza war as "hate marches (...) chanting for the erasure ofIsrael from the map" containing a "large number of bad actors who are deliberately operating beneath the criminal threshold".[108] In criticism of marches proposed to take place on Armistice Day, she cited "reports that some of Saturday's march group organisers have links to terrorist groups, including Hamas" and compared it tomarches in Northern Ireland.[109]Scotland's First MinisterHumza Yousaf called for her resignation and accused her of "fanning the flames of division".[110] The Labour Party and some police officers said that Braverman's writing had led to far-right supporters attacking police on 11 November.[111]
Braverman wrote an opinion piece that was published inThe Times on 8 November which included a statement that there was "a perception that senior police officers play favourites when it comes to protesters" and were tougher on right-wing extremists than pro-Palestinian "mobs".[112]The Guardian reported that the Prime Minister's office had asked for changes to be made to the article, but not all were implemented.[111]
Braverman was dismissed as Home Secretary in thecabinet reshuffle of 13 November 2023, and was replaced byJames Cleverly, who had been the Foreign Secretary.[113] According toThe Guardian, the trigger for her sacking was herTimes article.[111]The Telegraph throws doubt on this view, reporting thatDavid Cameron was offered the role of foreign secretary on 7 November 2023, the day before Braverman'sTimes article was published.[114]
In December 2023, Braverman delivered a speech in the House of Commons in which she argued that "the Conservative Party faces electoral oblivion" if theGovernment's policy of deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda was not introduced.[115]
In January 2024, Braverman joined pro-Israel protesters at a rally in London held to mark 100 days since theGaza war.[116]
In June 2024, while speaking tothe Times, Braverman suggested that the Conservative Party should "welcome"Nigel Farage into the party to "unite the right".[117]
In July 2024, after the Conservative Party's loss in the2024 General Election, Braverman delivered a speech at theNational Conservatism Conference in Washington, D.C., where she attributed the party's defeat to the influence of "liberal Conservatives." Later that month, followingRishi Sunak's resignation as leader of theConservative Party, Braverman unexpectedly announced that she would not be standing for leader.[118]
In August 2024, it was disclosed that Braverman had given several paid speeches internationally, including in India, South Korea, and the United States, and had earned nearly £60,000 from these engagements.[119]
In January 2025, Braverman attendedDonald Trump's presidential inauguration inWashington, D.C., and was seen wearing a 'Make America Great Again' cap.[120] Later that month, Braverman delivered theMargaret Thatcher Freedom Lecture atThe Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. and raised the question of whether the United Kingdom could become "the first Islamist nation with nuclear weapons", whilst saying she did not think that was a realistic outcome.[121]
On 26 January 2026, Braverman joinedReform UK at a London rally. Braverman said on the matter, "Britain is indeed broken. She is suffering. She is not well. Immigration is out of control. Our public services are on their knees. People don't feel safe."[122] She became the fourth sitting Conservative MP todefect to Reform UK since the2024 general election.[122]
The Conservative Party responded by saying it was "always a matter of when, not if, Suella would defect", and that "The Conservatives did all we could to look after Suella's mental health, but she was clearly very unhappy".[122]
During a vote on a government bill to abolishUniversal Credit restrictions for families with more than two children, Braverman and fellow Reform MPRobert Jenrick were reported to have "accidentally" voted in favour of the bill (which passed by a majority of 354) after entering the wrongdivision lobby.[123]
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Braverman was ideologically on theright-wing of theConservative Party. She was a supporter ofBrexit, supports the withdrawal of the UK from theEuropean Convention on Human Rights and supports sendingcross-Channel migrants to Rwanda. In a May 2022 article, she said, "If I get trolled and I provoke a bad response onTwitter I know I'm doing the right thing. Twitter is a sewer of left-wing bile. The extreme left pile on is often a consequence of sound conservative values."[124]
In May 2023, Braverman spoke at theNational Conservatism Conference in London. In her speech, she stated that immigration threatened the country's "national character", and that Britons should be trained to do the jobs where immigrants are currently employed. She also expressed opposition to what she referred to as "radical gender ideology".[125][126][127]
Braverman has criticisedmulticulturalism, saying that it allowed people to "come to our society and live parallel lives in it" and that it "makes no demands of the incomer to integrate".[128]
Writing forThe Daily Telegraph in a February 2025 article titled "I will never be truly English", Braverman argued that despite being born and educated in England, she is not English and "cannot claim to be". She said that the English national identity "must be rooted in ancestry, heritage, and, yes, ethnicity – not just residence or fluency". Describing herself as British Asian, she said that she doesn't "feel English" because she has "no generational ties to English soil", and asked whether it would take five or six generations "before one can claim to be English".[129]
These comments drew sharp criticism fromSathnam Sanghera,Sunder Katwala andJolyon Maugham, among others.[130] Katwala said that despite her call to "defend Judeo-Christian civilization", Braverman's position would mean that the large majority of British Jews could not be English.Ian Dunt said: "It's the view of almost everyone in this country that you can be English without being white."[130] Conservative former Prime MinisterRishi Sunak and Shadow Foreign SecretaryPriti Patel affirmed that they do consider themselves English, with Sunak saying that he found Braverman andKisin's position "ridiculous".[131][132]
In September 2023, Braverman spoke at theAmerican Enterprise Institute inWashington. In this speech, she argued that the UN's1951 Convention on Refugees needed reforming, questioning if it was "fit for our modern age".[133][128][134] In the same speech, she also said that being gay or a woman was insufficient to qualify for asylum; stating:
Let me be clear, there are vast swathes of the world where it is extremely difficult to be gay, or to be a woman. Where individuals are being persecuted, it is right that we offer sanctuary. But we will not be able to sustain an asylum system if in effect, simply being gay, or a woman, and fearful of discrimination in your country of origin, is sufficient to qualify for protection.[135][136]
This led to criticism from members of theLabour Party and also byAndrew Boff, a patron of theLGBT+ wing of the Conservative Party. However, Conservative MPMichael Fabricant, another patron of the LGBT+ group, said that claiming to be gay "should not provide the key to entry to our country".[137] TheUnited Nations High Commissioner for Refugees rejected Braverman's calls for reform.[138][128]
Braverman has described herself as a "child of theBritish Empire". Her parents, who were fromMauritius andKenya, came to the UK "with an admiration and gratitude for what Britain did for Mauritius and Kenya, andIndia". She believes that on the whole, "the British Empire was a force for good",[124] and described herself as being "proud of the British Empire".[139]
Braverman was the founding chair of governors at theMichaela Community School,[140] and supported plans to create afree school in Fareham.[141] In 2017 she sat on the advisory board of theNew Schools Network, a charity which aims to support groups setting up free schools within the English state education sector.[142]
In a December 2015 op-ed, Braverman wrote, "In essence, rights have come to fill the space once occupied by generosity." She quotedEric Posner's theories on what the Brazilian state sees as its right to use torture by "the police in the name of crime prevention. They justify this by putting a general right to live free from crime and intimidation above the rights of those who are tortured." She concluded,[143]
To correct the imbalance, perhaps we should adopt a Universal Declaration of Responsibilities and Duties, to be read in tandem with that on Human Rights? A fair, decent and reasonable society should question the dilution of our sense of duty, the demotion of our grasp of responsibility and our virtual abandonment of the spirit of civic obligation. What we do for others should matter more than the selfish assertion of personal rights and the lonely individualism to which it gives rise.
In a May 2022 interview withThe Times, Braverman said that schools do not have to accommodate requests from students who wish to change how othersrecognise their gender, including the use of the pronouns, uniforms, lavatories and changing facilities of their identified gender if it differs from their sex. She argued that, legally, under-18s are entitled to be treated only by the gender corresponding to their sex and that the "unquestioning approach" adopted by some teachers and schools is the reason different parts of the country have very different rates ofchildren presenting as transgender.[124] Some of her statements have been criticised by trans advocates as transphobic.[144][145]
On 13 March 2024, Braverman wrote an article forThe Telegraph in which she discussedJ. K. Rowling's views on transgender people. She voiced support for Rowling's stances, including Rowling's comments calling the broadcasterIndia Willoughby, atransgender woman, a man. Braverman joined Rowling in doing so, saying, "India Willoughby is a trans woman. That means, with all respect to India, he is a man."[146]
In July 2024 Braverman in a speech at theNational Conservatism Conference inWashington DC said that the Conservative Party had failed to "stop the lunatic woke virus" after aPride flag was flown at the Home Office. She said "what theProgress flag says to me is one monstrous thing: that I was the member of a government that presided over the mutilation of children in our hospitals and from our schools" (referring togender-affirming surgery). TwoConservative candidatesIain Dale and Casey Byrne criticised her. Dale added: "And she seriously thinks she has a chance of leading the Conservative party. Not while I have a breath in my body". Byrne said: "I urged all decent people to speak up...this cannot be allowed to go without consequences."[147] Braverman supports same-sex marriage.[148]
In October 2023, she condemnedHamas's actions during theGaza war and expressed her support forIsrael. She called for legislation that criminalisesboycotts of Israel, saying that "Israel is a beacon of democracy in the Middle East. Defending Israel is not part of the culture wars. It is symbolic of defending humanity."[149] She consistently criticised those who took part in theprotests against the Israeli attack on Gaza,[150] urging the police to take action on any attempts by protesters to use flags, songs or swastikas to harass members of the Jewish community.[107]Keir Starmer accused her of "sowing the seeds of hatred".[151]
In July 2024, Braverman criticised the British government's decision to restore funding toUNRWA, stating that the decision was "naive, dangerous and shameful" and diverted "British taxpayer cash to Hamas".[152]
Braverman, who is of Indian heritage, said that she feared a trade deal withIndia would increasemigration to the UK when Indians already represented the largest group of people who overstayed their visa.[153]
Nine organisations wrote a letter to theBar Standards Board in May 2023 alleging that Braverman had violated the Bar's code of conduct regarding "racist sentiments and discriminatory narratives".[154] They referred to comments Braverman made in 2022, referring to people reaching the UK by crossing theChannel in small boats as an 'invasion',[155] as well as comments about sexual grooming gang members being predominantly British-Pakistani men who "hold cultural values totally at odds with British values".[156][154]
Braverman's details on theNo5 Chambers website state that she "is a contributor to Philip Kolvin QC's bookGambling for Local Authorities, Licensing, Planning and Regeneration".[157]The Observer had questioned this in 2020[158] and, in October 2022,The Big Issue reported Kolvin saying that she "did not make a written or editorial contribution to the book", but simply "on one occasion I asked her to do some photocopying for the book". Braverman's parliamentary office, theHome Office andNo5 Chambers all declined to comment, but the claim was removed from the website afterThe Big Issue had enquired.[159]
"The Secret Barrister" toldThe Big Issue, "For a practising barrister to include on a chambers profile something which is not merely an exaggeration but knowing false, is the type of dishonest conduct that should rightly attract the attention of theBar Standards Board."[160] It was later reported byPrivate Eye that the Bar Standards Board was investigating a complaint that she had made a "dishonest statement out of self-interest to promote her career".[161]
Private Eye also reported that her MP's website had said that she was involved "in the lengthyGuantanamo Bay Inquiry into the treatment of detainees by US and UK forces", although her name does not appear in the inquiry report, and suggested she may merely have been one of scores of lawyers who had sifted through documents.[161]
In May 2023, it was reported that, following an incident where she was caught speeding by police while she wasAttorney General for England and Wales, Braverman asked whether civil servants could arrange for her an option to take adriving awareness course as a private one-to-one session rather than the standard group course with other motorists. They refused, and reported the request to theCabinet Office. Braverman then asked one of her political aides to assist her, who asked the course providers whether aliases could be used with online courses and whether cameras could be switched off. The providers said those options were not available.[162][163]
TheLiberal Democrats andLabour, which suggested the matter could be a breach of theministerial code, called for an inquiry by the prime minister's independent adviser on ministerial interests and "ethics chief",Sir Laurie Magnus.[163] Prime MinisterRishi Sunak said that after consulting Magnus, he had decided that further investigation was not necessary, and that the incident did not constitute a breach of the Ministerial Code.[164]
In 2018, she married Rael Braverman,[165] a manager of theMercedes-Benz Group, whom she described as a "very proud member of theJewish community".[166] The wedding was celebrated at theHouse of Commons in February 2018.[167] Rael Braverman, who moved to the UK as a teenager from South Africa, formerly lived in Israel.[168] Suella Braverman toldThe Jewish Chronicle that she has "close family members who serve in theIDF".[169] As of 2021[update], they have two children.[170][171] She lives inLocks Heath,Hampshire.[172]
Braverman was briefly involved with theTriratna Buddhist Community, formerly the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order,[173] but was never an ordained member of theTriratna Buddhist Order.[174] She took heroath of allegiance as an MP on the BuddhistDhammapada.[175]
In July 2024, Braverman was one of five politicians to cover forJames O'Brien's radio show onLBC, as part of the station's "Guest Week".[176]
In December 2024, Rael Braverman joinedReform UK,[177] but resigned seven months later after his wife was criticised by Reform's former chairman over a political matter.[178] However, she would herself join Reform in January 2026.[179]
They are an assertion of primacy by certain groups — particularly Islamists — of the kind we are more used to seeing in Northern Ireland. Also disturbingly reminiscent of Ulster are the reports that some of Saturday's march group organisers have links to terrorist groups, including Hamas.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of parliament forFareham 2015–present | Incumbent |
| Party political offices | ||
| New office | Deputy Chair of theEuropean Research Group 2016–2017 Served alongside:Michael Tomlinson | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chair of theEuropean Research Group 2017–2018 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| New office | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union 2018 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Attorney General for England and Wales 2020–2021 | Succeeded by |
| Advocate General for Northern Ireland 2020–2021 | ||
| Preceded by | Attorney General for England and Wales 2021–2022 | Succeeded by |
| Advocate General for Northern Ireland 2021–2022 | ||
| Preceded by | Home Secretary 2022 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Home Secretary 2022–2023 | Succeeded by |
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