Penny Mordaunt, English lieutenant and politician, Minister of State for the Armed Forces
Penelope Mary Mordaunt (; born 4 March 1973) is a British Conservative Party politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Portsmouth North since 2010 and as Minister of State for Trade Policy since September 2021. Mordaunt previously served in Theresa May's Cabinet as International Development Secretary from 2017 to 2019 and Defence Secretary in 2019.
Mordaunt served in the Cameron Government as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Communities and Local Government (2014–2015) prior to being appointed Minister of State for the Armed Forces at the Ministry of Defence in May 2015, the first woman to hold the post. Starting in July 2016 she served in the May Government as Minister of State for Disabled People, Work and Health at the Department for Work and Pensions. In November 2017, following the resignation of Priti Patel, Mordaunt was appointed Secretary of State for International Development. She also served as Minister for Women and Equalities from 2018 to 2019.
In May 2019, Mordaunt was appointed Secretary of State for Defence, replacing Gavin Williamson. She served as Defence Secretary for 85 days, and was the first woman to hold this post. She is currently the only female MP who is a Royal Naval Reservist.In February 2020, Mordaunt re-entered government, joining the Cabinet Office as the Paymaster General, succeeding Oliver Dowden. On 16 September 2021, Mordaunt became Minister of State for Trade Policy during Boris Johnson's second cabinet reshuffle.