A politician, lawyer and MP, she served as Britain's Home Secretary, whose real name is Sue Ellen, but her primary school teachers merged the two parts together to become Suela. Despite their migrant origins, they supported reducing migration and deporting irregular refugees. She was sacked for accusing police of bias towards pro-Palestinian demonstrations.
Birth and upbringing
Born in Harrow, London on April 3, 1980, Braverman Ellen Cassiana Fernandez immigrated to Britain in the <>s, both of Indian descent, and her father Christy Fernandez from Kenya and mother Uma from Mauritius immigrated to Britain in the <>s.
Her father worked for a housing association, her mother was a nurse and then became a political activist in the Conservative Party.
Suela converts to Buddhism even though her mother is Hindu and her father is Christian, and she married a South African Jewish businessman.
Study and training
Braverman attended a local state school and her parents decided to enroll her in a local charter school, where she received a scholarship to help with tuition fees at Heathfield School in Penner, a suburb of London.
She studied law at Queen's College, Cambridge University, continued her studies in France after enrolling in the Erasmus (exchange programme), and obtained a master's degree in French European law from the Sorbonne University in Paris.
Political and practical experience
After studying in France, she returned to Britain to become a Brexit supporter. She then became a member of the Conservative Party on the anti-European wing.
In 2005 she was called to the Middle Temple Bar Association, specializing in commercial litigation, judicial review and immigration law.
In addition to her work as a lawyer, she tried to run for the Conservative Party but was unsuccessful, until she ran in the traditionally conservative constituency in Fairham, Hampshire. She won so much support among voters in her constituency that they described her decisions as telling.
From 2015 to 2017, Braverman served on a series of parliamentary committees supporting education and financial literacy.
After the Brexit referendum, she became chair of the Conservative Party's right-wing European research group, before being promoted to private parliamentary secretary to the finance ministry.
In January 2018 she became the parliamentary undersecretary of state for foreign affairs, but she quickly resigned in November of the same year in protest at Theresa May's draft Brexit deal. But after Boris Johnson was elected party leader, he reinstated her as justice minister.
In February 2020, she took over as prosecutor to succeed Jeffrey Cox. In September 2022, she served as interior minister, quickly declaring her priority to prevent illegal immigration.
During this period, she clashed with the prime minister over immigration and breached the government's plan by saying it would return to David Cameron's target of 100,<> fewer new arrivals a year.
She resigned after 6 weeks as interior minister, but made a strong comeback days later, under the government of Liz Truss.
Removed from the post of British Home Secretary
On November 13, 2023, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak dismissed Home Secretary Suela Braverman from her post following an opinion piece she published in a newspaper accusing the police of bias towards pro-Palestinian demonstrations.