Penny Mordaunt: The sword-carrying former MP

Penny Mordaunt was once seen as the future of the Conservative Party. But all that has changed after the 2024 general election.

Here's the backstory of her life and career, from magician's assistant to marching up the aisle with a massive sword at King Charles' Coronation.

She lost her seat in the general election

Penny Mordaunt was the MP for Portsmouth North, where she won by more than 15,000 votes at the 2019 election.

But in the 2024 general election Labour's Amanda Martin received 14,495 votes to Ms Mordaunt's 13,715. Like many other MPs and candidates, Ms Mordaunt is now looking for a new job.

She went viral for carrying a sword during the Coronation

Penny Mordaunt carries sword at the Coronation

She carried two heavy-looking swords for more than an hour during the ceremony and was praised widely for her stamina. She later told the BBC she had taken painkillers on the day.

She once ran to be leader of the Conservative Party

In the summer of 2022, Mordaunt made it to the final three in the Conservative Party leadership race before losing out to Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak - both of whom would become prime minister within a few short months.

Before all that, Ms Mordaunt campaigned strongly for Brexit in the 2016 referendum.

She has strong links to the armed forces

She was a navy reservist and was appointed the UK's first-ever female defence secretary by Theresa May - before being removed by Boris Johnson. Her father was a paratrooper and she is named after the cruiser HMS Penelope.

She worked as a magician's assistant at uni

Other previous jobs include working in orphanages in Romania during her gap year, and working in public relations for George W Bush's US presidential campaign in 2000.

She was elected as an MP for Portsmouth North in 2010. Four years later, she appeared on ITV's Splash!, where she was mentored on diving by Tom Daley.

She gave a naughty speech in Parliament

Also in 2014, she gave a speech on "poultry welfare" after a dare by her navy training officers. She later explained she had to "say a particular word, the abbreviation of cockerel, several times during a speech on the floor".