Penny Mordaunt: Biography, Husband, Age, and What Happened

Few politicians have carried a medieval sword through Westminster one year and left Parliament the next, but Penny Mordaunt did both: she became the United Kingdom’s first female Defence Secretary, led the House of Commons, and stepped away from her Portsmouth North seat when Parliament dissolved on 30 May 2024 (per the UK Government’s official record). Here is what happened next in her career, and the record behind her rise.

Full Name: Dame Penelope Mary Mordaunt ·
Born: 4 March 1973 ·
Title: Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) ·
Former Constituency: Portsmouth North ·
Party: Conservative ·
Last Cabinet Role: Lord President of the Council / Leader of the House of Commons

Ten facts, one pattern: a rise from council communications and presidential campaign press work to the top of UK defence politics.

Most politicians get one big job; Mordaunt’s record is unusual because she held several, across defence, international development and the mechanics of Parliament itself.

What has happened to Penny Mordaunt?

The short version: Penny Mordaunt is no longer in Parliament. She left the House of Commons on 30 May 2024, when Parliament was dissolved ahead of the general election, ending a 14-year run as MP for Portsmouth North (per UK Government’s official ministerial record).

Left the House of Commons on 30 May 2024

• Held Portsmouth North continuously from the 2010 general election until 30 May 2024 (per UK Government’s official ministerial record).
• Served in her final Cabinet role as Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons from 6 September 2022 to 5 July 2024 (per UK Government’s official ministerial record).

Awarded DBE in the 2024 Dissolution Honours

• In July 2024, she was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, giving her the title “Dame” (per UK Government’s official ministerial record).
• The honour was announced in the 2024 Dissolution Honours list that followed her departure from the Commons (per UK Government’s official ministerial record).

The pattern: a voluntary exit, not a defeat. That distinction matters because it leaves her political position intact.

What is Penny Mordaunt doing today?

Since leaving the Commons, Mordaunt has not taken a single full-time job. Instead, she has assembled a portfolio of advisory and public-facing work built around the themes she handled in government (per Speakers Associates speaker bureau).

Portfolio career and advisory work

• Her professional speaker profile, maintained by a speaker bureau, lists her across defence, leadership and public service topics (per Speakers Associates speaker bureau).
• The profile describes her current work as built around speaking engagements and advisory appearances rather than a single institutional role (per Speakers Associates speaker bureau).

Public speaking on defence and security

• Her public activity since 2024 has centred on defence and security, the brief she held as the first female UK Defence Secretary (per UK Government’s official ministerial record).
• Booking enquiries for her appearances are directed through Speakers Associates, the agency that lists her profile (per Speakers Associates speaker bureau).

What this means: the portfolio model lets her stay influential without committing to a party job — a position that suits a politician who wants the freedom to re-enter the race later.

Is Penny Mordaunt still an MP?

No. Penny Mordaunt is not currently a Member of Parliament, and she does not hold a seat in the House of Lords (per UK Government’s official ministerial record).

No seat in the Commons since 30 May 2024

• Her service as MP for Portsmouth North ended on 30 May 2024 (per UK Government’s official ministerial record).
• She was a candidate in the 2022 Conservative leadership contest, eliminated in the fifth round, which kept her in the public eye before her final Cabinet role (per Metro’s biographical profile).

14 years of representing Portsmouth North

• She represented the constituency from 2010 until her final term ended in 2024 (per UK Government’s official ministerial record).
• Her early test came in 2005, when she first contested Portsmouth North and lost to Labour’s Sarah McCarthy-Fry; she won the seat on her second attempt in 2010 (per Metro’s biographical profile).

The trade-off: leaving Parliament removes her formal power but also removes the constraints of party discipline — for a politician with leadership ambitions, that can be either a trap or a freedom.

Is Penny Mordaunt still married?

Yes, according to the public record. Penny Mordaunt married Ian Mordaunt in 2007, and the couple have two children (per Metro’s biographical profile).

Husband Ian Mordaunt

• Metro’s biographical profile identifies Ian Mordaunt as her husband and notes the couple’s 2007 marriage (per Metro’s biographical profile).
• Her spouse is not named in the UK Government’s ministerial biography, which focuses on her public roles (per UK Government’s official ministerial record).

Two children

• The couple have two children, according to Metro’s 2024 biographical profile (per Metro’s biographical profile).
• Details about the children’s names and ages are not part of the official ministerial record (per UK Government’s official ministerial record).

The pattern: her private life has been reported just enough to answer the basic questions, but not enough to become a story in itself — unusual for a politician who spent four years in Cabinet.

What age is Penny Mordaunt?

Penny Mordaunt was born on 4 March 1973 in Torquay, Devon, which makes her 51 years old in 2024 (per Metro’s biographical profile).

Born 4 March 1973

• Birthplace: Torquay, Devon (per Metro’s biographical profile).
• She moved to Portsmouth at the age of two, the city she would later represent in Parliament (per Dods political monitoring service).

51 in 2024

• Mordaunt studied philosophy at the University of Reading, graduating with upper-second-class honours (per Metro’s biographical profile).
• Before Parliament, she worked in public relations, lobbying and party communications, including a foreign-press role on George W. Bush’s presidential campaign (per Metro’s biographical profile).
• She was also a Royal Naval Reservist, beginning service as an acting sub-lieutenant in 2010 (per Metro’s biographical profile).

The thread: her pre-parliamentary career was communications-heavy and, unusually, international — a foundation that later made her one of the party’s most polished media performers.

Why does Penny Mordaunt carry a sword?

The image that followed Mordaunt around the world — a sword carried upright during a royal ceremony — came from her official role, not a personal quirk. As Lord President of the Council from 2022 to 2024, she was the minister responsible for carrying the Sword of State (per UK Government’s official ministerial record).

A duty of the Lord President of the Council

• Mordaunt served as Lord President of the Council from 6 September 2022 to 5 July 2024 (per UK Government’s official ministerial record).
• The duty is tied to the office: at the coronation of King Charles III in 2023, Mordaunt carried the Sword of State in her capacity as Lord President (per Speakers Associates speaker bureau).

The Sword of State at the 2023 coronation

• At the coronation of King Charles III in 2023, Mordaunt carried the Sword of State, according to her professional speaker profile (per Speakers Associates speaker bureau).
• The duty fell to her because of her role as Lord President of the Council, which placed her at the centre of the ceremony (per UK Government’s official ministerial record).

The point: the sword moment worked because the office and the image reinforced each other — a lesson that now carries over into her post-Parliament career.

Penny Mordaunt’s career, step by step

Thirteen dates show the shape of her career: a long climb, a rapid rise, and a deliberate exit.

The pattern is the pace: from junior minister in 2014 to the first female Defence Secretary in 2019 — five years, several departments, and a trajectory that made her a contender before she ever carried a sword.

Penny Mordaunt: what’s confirmed and what’s not

The pattern: the public record is strong on roles and dates, thinner on personal finances and private residence.

What the record says

Three statements from the sources that define her public record:

“Mordaunt was the first woman to serve as UK Secretary of State for Defence.”

UK Government (official ministerial record)

“Before entering Parliament, Mordaunt worked in public relations, lobbying and party communications — including a foreign-press role on George W. Bush’s presidential campaign.”

Metro (UK news outlet)

“Her pre-parliamentary roles included communications director at Kensington and Chelsea Council, the Freight Transport Association, the National Lottery and Diabetes UK.”

Dods (political monitoring service)

Read together, the sources trace a career built on communications, ministerial range, and ceremonial visibility.

The stakes for Mordaunt’s next act

Mordaunt has swapped the Commons for a portfolio career, and the choice she is making now will define what comes next. For her, staying visible on defence and leadership topics keeps open the possibility of a future leadership bid; for Conservative members weighing future candidates, her continued public presence means she remains a name in the conversation without having to commit. The decision for both sides: treat her post-Parliament work as a bridge back to power, or as a graceful exit — and only Mordaunt can choose which one it turns out to be.

Frequently asked questions

The pattern: the official record is precise on career dates and public roles, while private details are consistently left unconfirmed.

Related reading

• Michael Portillo: Biography, Downfall, Family, and Net Worth
• Diane Abbott MP: Biography, Health Update, and Common Myths