 Patel wrote to the "FT" countering its article stating that her comments had been misinterpreted to imply that she had been blocked as a party candidate because of her ethnicity.In 2000 Patel left the employment of the Conservative Party to work for Weber Shandwick, a PR consulting firm.According to an investigative article published by "The Guardian" in May 2015, Patel was one of seven Weber Shandwick employees who worked on British American Tobacco (BAT)—a major account.