Penny Mordaunt

Penny Mordaunt is the leader of the House of Commons. Born in 1973, Mordaunt attended school in Hampshire before reading philosophy at the University of Reading. She attributes her interest in politics to her gap year, where she worked in hospitals and orphanages in Romania as the country was recovering after the 1989 revolution. Before entering politics Mordaunt specialised in public relations. Her parliamentary career began in 2010 and previous positions include minister for women and equalities, international development secretary and defence secretary. In July 2022 Mordaunt ran to become the next Conservative leader but lost in the fifth round of voting. She also ran after Liz Truss’s resignation in October 2022, but fell short of meeting the ballot to compete by fewer than ten MPs.