A plucky new defense minister, the first serving naval officer and first female to hold the post, could be a boost for long-declining British sea power.
Penny Mordaunt vowed to hang a picture of storied British naval hero Horatio Nelson in her office while attending a service Friday, her first day on the job, at Westminster Abbey honoring submarine crews from Operation Resilient, the British military’s longest-running mission. Mordaunt, a naval reservist, has been an ardent supporter of British naval power for years, but she is less known for her defense policies than for her brief turn as a reality television star.
Mordaunt made her name as an MP not in the House of Commons but on the TV series “Splash!,” in which she donned a swimsuit and took diving lessons from British Olympian Tom Daley.
“I have the elegance and drive of a paving slab, but my Navy training has certainly given me the guts to take on the challenge head on,” she said.
Some criticized the propriety of her appearance on the show, while others drew focus to her cleavage, but it was Mordaunt who had the last laugh.
“I could probably hold Her Majesty’s Stationery Office under my bosoms,” she said.
Mordaunt inevitably flopped — literally — on national television, but it was all for a good cause: Her appearance netted £10,000 ($13,055) for charity and a swimming pool in her district. The ability to poke fun at herself is very on-brand for the Conservative MP. Mordaunt joked during her early days in Parliament that she had waited so long to give her first speech that calling it her “maiden” speech was “a little strange.”
“Perhaps it could be more aptly described as my spinster speech,” she told the House. (Mordaunt’s brief marriage ended in 2000, and she broke up with a longtime partner in 2016. She has no children, but she and her ex, a Burmese-cat breeder, had eight of the animals at one point. “Loves freedom and cats” reads her Twitter bio.)
As a former magician’s assistant, Mordaunt certainly knows the value of a little showmanship, but her humor belies a woman of serious political ambition.
The 46-year-old Mordaunt was born in Devon to a British paratrooper. She lost her mother to cancer at age 15 and reportedly paid her own way through college. She was the first in her family to attend university, graduating from the University of Reading with a degree in philosophy. She spent her early career working in public relations before entering politics, including a stint as the head of foreign press for George W. Bush’s 2000 presidential campaign. She lost her first election in 2005 but would win the seat for Portsmouth North in 2010.
After several years spent in the political background, Mordaunt’s career was catapulted thanks to the aforementioned TV appearance and the referendum on the U.K.’s membership in the European Union. Mordaunt, a stalwart Brexiteer, did receive some backlash in 2016 when she claimed that the country would have no veto should Turkey try to join the union. The claim was false, as accession requires a unanimous vote of General Council members. Prime Minister David Cameron called her argument “completely wrong.”
Nevertheless, Mordaunt’s political career was put on the fast track once Prime Minister Theresa May replaced Cameron after British voters rejected his appeals and voted for Brexit. Mordaunt was appointed secretary of state for international development in 2017. She has also benefited from being in the right place at the right time. The resignation of minister for women and equalities Amber Rudd in April 2018 won her that title, while defense minister Gavin Williamson’s unceremonious dismissal on May 1 got her the role she is in now.
Mordaunt’s support for British defense forces has characterized her career. In fact, it was her desire to speak in a defense debate that delayed her first speech in Parliament. As the MP from Portsmouth, home to one of Britain’s three naval bases, Mordaunt has a clear view of the importance of military strength. She is expected to emphasize that by pushing NATO allies to meet defense spending requirements. Doing so could earn her favor with President Trump, who has frequently criticized NATO members for failing to meet the 2% of GDP spending goal. Only 7 of 29 members do so.
Mordaunt signaled immediately that she is also poised to push back against the U.K.’s adversaries. Shortly after attending the Operation Resilient service, she published an op-ed, titled “This Government is sending a strong message to the Kremlin,” telling Russia that “we will not back down in our defence of freedom.”
She lambasted Moscow’s alleged involvement in the nerve agent attack against former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, in Salisbury last year. Mordaunt called the attack “an utterly reckless act that ignored the rule of law and had a complete disregard for life.”
“So Britain and its allies must keep showing their resolution,” she wrote. “We will be a nation that is engaged not isolated, bold not timid.”
