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Penny Mordaunt was an MP for 14 years, during which time she held nine ministerial roles - four of those being in Cabinet. She was the first (and only) woman to hold the roles of Secretary of State for Defence and Minister for the Armed Forces. She also held the role of Paymaster General, where she became the UK government’s first crossgovernment defensive cyber lead, and led the rebuild of the UK’s civil contingencies and resilience strategy.
Penny also held the role of Secretary of State for International Development, working with UN agencies and international organisations, as well as being the UK’s representative at the World Bank. In her role as Trade Minister, she brokered new trade deals, including overseeing the UK’s accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. She also established economic agreements with individual US states in lieu of a US deal - a move that saw her undertaking the longest tour of the US of any Minister since Churchill. She was also on the Withdrawal Agreement Joint Committee overseeing the UK’s exit from the EU. She has held other roles in local government, work, health, pensions and disability.
Prior to Parliament she worked across all sectors and also in US politics as Head of Foreign Press for the RNC during the Bush 2000 campaign. She was a Royal Navy Reservist for 10 years and is now an Honorary Captain affiliated to MCM2 Squadron, the UK’s mine hunters and bomb disposal divers. She is co-author of Greater: Britain After the Storm, which made bestseller lists in the UK and the US - and also gained international attention in her role of Leader of the Commons, which saw her presiding over the Accession Council following the death of Queen Elizabeth II and at the coronation of King Charles III.
She has won Parliamentary Wit of the Year, Spectator speech of the year, was among Grazia and Vogue’s most influential women of the year. Known for her speeches and exchanges in the House of Commons, she is one of only four women to have been asked to address the Saints and Sinners club, the others being Princess Anne, Margaret Thatcher and Dame Vera Lynn.
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“The Building and Destruction of Trust”
It takes time and consistency to build trust and confidence in managing wealth, in politics, in diplomacy and negotiation etc, but all can be lost overnight through action or inaction on points of importance to the relevant constituents.
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