Penelope Mary Mordaunt (/ˈmɔːrdənt/; born 4 March 1973) is a British politician who has been Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council since September 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, she has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Portsmouth North since May 2010. She served as a junior minister under Boris Johnson, having previously served in Theresa May's Cabinet as Secretary of State for International Development from 2017 to 2019, and as Secretary of State for Defence from May to July 2019. She ran twice for the Conservative party leadership in July–September, and October 2022, losing to Liz Truss.