Penny Mordaunt served as the Conservative MP for Portsmouth North from 2010 to 2024. During this time, she held several senior ministerial positions, including secretary of state for defence and, most recently, leader of the House of Commons.

At the 2024 general election, Mordaunt lost her Portsmouth North seat to the Labour Party candidate, Amanda Martin. Martin received 14,495 votes (34.8%), while Mordaunt polled 13,715 votes (33.0%).

Political Career

Mordaunt served as leader of the House of Commons and lord president of the council from September 2022 to July 2024.

As lord president, Mordaunt played a historically significant role during the succession to the throne of King Charles III. She presided over the accession council after Queen Elizabeth II died in September 2022 and Charles ascended the throne. Mordaunt also a famously carried the sword of state during the coronation ceremony in May 2023.

Mordaunt stood as a candidate in both the July-September 2022 and October 2022 Conservative leadership contests.

The first contest was triggered by the resignation of Boris Johnson, following the mass exodus of more than 60 frontbenchers. Mordaunt, the then international trade minister, performed strongly throughout the early stages of the campaign and MP voting rounds. However, she was narrowly overtaken by Liz Truss in the final round. Mordaunt was thereby eliminated in the fifth parliamentary ballot on 20 July after receiving 105 votes.

The October contest was triggered by the resignation of Liz Truss after just 45 days in office, following the financial and political tailspin triggered by her “mini-budget”. Mordaunt was the first to announce her candidacy on 22 October, pledging “a fresh start, a united party and leadership in the national interest.” However, as the expedited deadline approached on 24 October, it was Mordaunt who was under pressure to secure the requisite 100 parliamentary supporters.

In the end, Mordaunt failed to secure the necessary backers and withdrew two minutes before the 2:00 pm nomination deadline. She said Rishi Sunak, the leading candidate, had her “full support”. Only 27 MPs had publicly backed Mordaunt’s nomination at the time of her withdrawal.

In a statement, she said: “Our party is our membership. Whether we are elected representatives, activists, fundraisers or supporters. We all have a stake in who our leader is.

“These are unprecedented times. Despite the compressed timetable for the leadership contest it is clear that colleagues feel we need certainty today. They have taken this decision in good faith for the good of the country…

“As a result, we have now chosen our next prime minister. This decision is an historic one and shows, once again, the diversity and talent of our party. Rishi has my full support.”

Sunak reappointed Mordaunt as leader of the House of Commons, a post she first occupied under Liz Truss.

Mordaunt previously served in the cabinet as secretary of state for defence from May to July 2019, being the first woman to hold the post. Upon Boris Johnson’s election as Conservative leader, Mordaunt was dismissed as defence secretary.

Mordaunt was later appointed to more junior roles under Johnson, serving as minister of state for trade policy from September 2021 to September 2022 and paymaster general at the Cabinet Office from February 2020 to September 2021.

Before this, Mordaunt was secretary of state for international development from November 2017 to May 2019. She also held the brief of minister for women and equalities concurrently from April 2018 to July 2019.

Mordaunt was minister of state for the armed forces from May 2015 to July 2016 – again, the first woman in the role; minister of state at the department for work and pensions from July 2016 to November 2017; and parliamentary under-secretary of state at the department for communities and local government from July 2014 to May 2015.

Earlier in her parliamentary career, Mordaunt served as parliamentary private secretary (PPS) to the then defence secretary, Philip Hammond from 2013 to 2014.

Political Views

Mordaunt is often considered to represent a socially liberal wing of the Conservative party, though she is also known for her strong support for defence and Brexit.

She has been described as a “socially liberal Brexiteer”.

Leadership elections

Tory leadership 2022 (I): After her elimination from the race, Mordaunt supported Liz Truss’ candidacy in the Conservative Party’s July-September 2022 leadership election.

Truss, the then-foreign secretary, campaigned on a platform of sweeping tax cuts. After finishing second in the final parliamentary ballot with 113 votes, she won the subsequent vote of the party membership with 81,326 votes (57.4%) and was appointed prime minister on 6 September.

Tory leadership 2019: Mordaunt supported Jeremy Hunt, the then-foreign secretary, for the party’s leadership in 2019. The election was triggered by the resignation of Theresa May following her inability to secure a Brexit deal acceptable to the Conservative Party.

Hunt, campaigning as a “unity candidate”, secured 77 votes from MPs in the final parliamentary round and thereby reached the final head-to-head ballot against Boris Johnson. In the subsequent vote by the party membership, Hunt finished as runner-up with 46,656 votes (33.6%) compared to Johnson’s 92,153 (66.4%).

Tory leadership 2016: Mordaunt supported Andrea Leadsom for the party’s leadership in July 2016. The election was triggered by the resignation of David Cameron following the UK’s vote to leave the European Union.

Leadsom, the minister of state for energy and climate change, emerged as a leading “Leave” candidate, securing 66 votes in the first ballot and 84 in the second. She withdrew from the contest on 11 July before the membership vote could take place.

Factional identity and party tradition

Blue Collar Conservatives: Mordaunt was previously listed as a member of the Blue Collar Conservatives group. This faction within the Conservative party was founded in 2012 by the former cabinet minister Esther McVey, but came to greater prominence following the 2019 general election. The group aimed to “champion working people and develop a conservative agenda to benefit the voters and communities most neglected by Labour”. In October 2022, McVey was succeeded by Lee Anderson as the group’s chair.

Brexit and Europe

Brexit referendum: Mordaunt supported Leave in the 2016 Brexit referendum, and therefore agreed with a majority of her constituents, 63.7% of whom also voted to Leave.

During the campaign, Mordaunt forcefully argued that Britain would not be able to stop Turkey’s accession to the European Union. David Cameron, the prime minister, dismissed this argument as “very misleading”, adding: “Britain and every other country in the EU has a veto on another country joining. That is a fact.”

Article 50: In February 2017, Mordaunt voted in favour of the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill. The legislation empowered the prime minister to notify the Council of the European Union of the UK’s intention to withdraw, formally triggering the process set out in Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. MPs supported the bill by 498 votes to 114 at second reading.

Social values and conscience issues

Same-sex marriage (2013): In February 2013, Mordaunt was one of the 131 Conservative MPs to vote in favour of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill at its second reading. The landmark piece of legislation, which received its second reading by 400 votes to 175, legalised marriage for same-sex couples in England and Wales.

Foreign policy and security

Trident renewal (2016): Mordaunt voted in favour of a government motion calling for the renewal of the Trident nuclear deterrent system in July 2016. The motion, which was passed by 472 votes to 117, committed the UK to constructing a new fleet of submarines to carry the nation’s nuclear weapons.

Syria airstrikes (2015): Mordaunt voted in favour of a government motion to extend UK airstrikes against Isis from Iraq into Syria in December 2015. The motion, which was passed by 397 votes to 223 after a 10-hour debate in the House of Commons, authorised the RAF to conduct strikes against Isis targets in Syria.

Syria airstrikes (2013): Mordaunt voted in favour of the government’s motion on the principle of military intervention in Syria in August 2013. The government motion was defeated by 285 votes to 272, a move which effectively ruled out UK participation in any US-led military strikes.

Before Politics

Penelope Mary Mordaunt was born in Torquay, Devon, on 4 March 1973. Her father served as a paratrooper.

Mordaunt attended Oaklands Roman Catholic Comprehensive School in Waterlooville and studied philosophy at the University of Reading, graduating in 1995.

Mordaunt worked in a factory and as a magician’s assistant to Will Ayling, a former president of the Portsmouth Magic Circle.

Mordaunt then pursued a career in communications and public relations. She worked for the Freight Transport Association. She served as head of broadcasting for the Conservative Party under William Hague and worked on George W Bush’s presidential campaigns in 2000 (as head of foreign press) and 2004.

Personal Life

Mordaunt’s mother died of breast cancer when she was 15. She has a twin brother, James, and a younger brother. She is related via her mother to Philip Snowden, the first Labour chancellor of the exchequer.

Mordaunt married Paul Murray in 1999; they divorced in 2000.

Mordaunt commissioned as a Royal Navy Reservist in 2010, serving until 2019.

Trivia

In 2014, Mordaunt participated in the ITV celebrity diving show Splash!.

Mordaunt was the first UK government minister to use British Sign Language at the commons despatch box, during a debate in July 2018.