Penny Mordaunt is among the bookies' favourites to be the UK's next prime minister. She is vying with the likes of Ben Wallace, Rishi Sunak and Dominic Raab to take over from Boris Johnson, who is set to resign today (Thursday July 7).
The British politician, who is currently a ministerial disability champion and Minister of State for Trade Policy, has been in post since 2021 and has been an MP for Portsmouth North since 2010.
Mordaunt is inspired by the Iron Lady herself, Margaret Thatcher, who wrote to her following an election loss in 2005. She wrote on Instagram: "Margaret Thatcher wrote to me when I was elected to the Commons, but more importantly five years earlier when I lost in 2005.
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"She told me to get back on the horse. She encouraged as well as inspired.
"She saw that as her responsibility. That’s leadership."
Mordaunt has fulfilled a number of ministerial roles, including international development secretary, equalities minister and, most notably, defence secretary, a post she held briefly in 2019. A Theresa May appointment, she was moved on by Johnson when he became PM a few months after she took the role.
Penny Mordaunt's personal life
Mordaunt has many strings to her bow – she is a Royal Navy reservist and a former reality TV contestant, having appeared on the Tom Daley-fronted diving show Splash.
Mordaunt has been a resident of Portsmouth since birth. Her mother was a special needs teacher at schools in Purbrook before she died of breast cancer when Mordaunt was fifteen years old.
Mordaunt's stepmother was also a teacher at a local primary school. Her father served in the Parachute Regiment who also went on to teach at Oak Park school.
According to Daily Mail, Mordaunt is divorced after a year-long marriage to Paul Murray which ended in 2000. She also split from her long-term partner Ian Lyon in 2016 and is said to be currently single.
Mordaunt held a number of jobs in her youth, including factory work and as a magician's assistant. She went on to study drama at the Victoryland Theatre School and philosophy at Reading University.
Following a successful career in communications in the private, public and charitable sectors, she entered politics in 2005.
She played a prominent role in the Leave campaign in the 2016 Brexit referendum, and has previously reportedly enjoyed the backing of Dame Andrea Leadsom among others.
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