[18][19] She was director of communications for the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea from 2001 to 2003, before leaving to set up a new Anglo-American website called 'virtualconservatives'. Her Majesty's Paymaster General or HM Paymaster General is a ministerial position in the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom. [49], Mordaunt is a Royal Naval Reservist, serving as an acting sub-lieutenant, at HMS King Alfred on Whale Island. More about this person ... Letter from the Paymaster General to the European Commission and the European External Action Service: 27 April 2020. [46], In February 2020, Mourdant joined the Cabinet Office as the Paymaster General, succeeding Oliver Dowden. Mordaunt was appointed Secretary of State for International Development on 9 November 2017, after Priti Patel resigned over a series of apparently secret and unauthorised meetings she had with Israeli politicians while on holiday. [21] She was a director at the Community Fund – which merged administratively with the New Opportunities Fund to create the Big Lottery Fund – and, in 2006, became one of six Directors at charity Diabetes UK. The post may be combined with another office, or may be left unfilled. [11] Through her mother, Jennifer (née Snowden),[12] she is a relative of Philip Snowden, the first Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer. Under Prime Minister John Major she was Head of Youth for the Conservative Party, before working for two years as Head of Broadcasting for the party under party leader William Hague. [11] She then worked as a communications specialist for the Freight Transport Association before, in 2000, working briefly as Head of Foreign Press for George W. Bush's presidential campaign. To pay her way through sixth-form college, Mordaunt became a magician's assistant to Portsmouth magician Will Ayling, who was once president of The Magic Circle. To help us improve GOV.UK, we’d like to know more about your visit today. Thank you to everyone who's helped me get things done, especially our Armed Forces and civilians in defence for the last 85 days. Funds which were made available from the Consolidated Fund were then channelled into OPG accounts, from where they were used by the relevant body. That might give them a new appreciation of just what these people go through for their sakes."[39]. Dame Angela Lansbury is her grandmother's cousin. Penny Mordaunt, the paymaster general, told MPs on Tuesday that there could yet be a rolling series of lockdowns – but argued this was not evidence that the measure was ineffective. We use cookies to collect information about how you use GOV.UK. [citation needed], In the EU membership referendum, Mordaunt supported the leave, or Brexit, option. 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. The Rt Hon Penny Mordaunt MP. The incumbent Paymaster General is Penny Mordaunt. Mordaunt felt it was important for aid organisations to report offences, because she believed that there were paedophiles "targeting" the charity sector in order to carry out predatory activities. She currently holds the Government post of Paymaster General. She also said that Oxfam did "absolutely the wrong thing" by not reporting the detail of the allegations to the government. [9] She served as Defence Secretary for 85 days, and was the first woman to hold this post. Today, the Paymaster General is usually a minister without portfolio available for any duties which the government of the day may designate. [22][23], In November 2003 Mordaunt was selected as Conservative candidate to contest Portsmouth North in the 2005 general election. [29], When receiving The Spectator magazine's Parliamentarian of the Year award in November 2014, Mordaunt said that she had delivered a speech in the House of Commons just before the Easter recess in 2013 on poultry welfare so as to use the word "cock", as a forfeit for a misdemeanour during Naval Reserve training. [44], On 1 May 2019, Mordaunt was appointed as the first ever female Defence Secretary following the dismissal of Gavin Williamson after an inquiry into a leak over a plan to allow Huawei limited access in connection with the UK's 5G network. 342 British Medical Association Motions on Homeopathy", "Penny Mordaunt speech: Fowl play or light-hearted fun? [48] She was later in a long-term relationship with Ian Lyon, a classical singer. [50][51], She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a member of the British Astronomical Association and is involved in many charities active in the Portsmouth area, including Southsea Greenhouse, Hilsea Lido, The Patey Centre, and Wymering Manor.