Priti Patel tells MPs to 'shut up' in final Commons appearance as Home Secretary

The new Tory backbencher was paying tribute to Boris Johnson in the House of Commons when she hit back at heckling from opposition MPs.

Video loading

Video not available

Click to playTap to play

Priti Patel tells Labor MPs to 'shut up' while praising Johnson

Priti Patel has told opposition MPs in the House of Commons to 'shut up' - hours before her dramatic resignation as Home Secretary.

Ms Patel was describing her legacy in the ministerial post and heckled as she paid tribute to Boris Johnson at the dispatch box when she hit back at Labor members.

She prepared to stress her ‘pride’ to have served in Mr Johnson’s administration, but was heckled by a number of MPs.

Ms Patel quickly told them to 'shut up' before adding: 'I am proud to serve in this government in which I would like to thank the Prime Minister's past and present and a wide range of civil servants.'

A few hours later, she resigned as Home Secretary, insisting it was her "choice" to continue serving the public from the benches.

Priti Patel was Home Secretary (

Picture:

PRU/AFP via Getty Images)

It is not uncommon for ministers to leave their posts a few hours after the announcement of new prime ministers. But that may have been unexpected for many in the Tory party, as new Prime Minister Liz Truss and Mr Johnson are often seen as very similar.

In her resignation letter to Boris Johnson, shared on social media, Ms Patel said: 'It has been the honor of my life to be Home Secretary for the past three years,' said- she tweeted.

"I am proud of our work to support the police, reform our immigration system and protect our country."

During her tenure, Ms Patel was accused of bullying staff and heavily criticized by campaigners for her immigration and asylum reforms amid accusations that her policy was 'anti- refugees"; and fell out of favor with the police amid a row over the wage freeze.

But her supporters defend her for being "fair and firm" with a pragmatic approach to difficult topics that spark debate.

In April, Ms Patel signed what she called a 'world first' to send migrants believed to have arrived in the UK illegally to Rwanda - a policy seen as highly controversial among opponents, as well as some Tories , in light of concerns. about the East African nation's human rights record, among other factors.