5 NOVEMBER 2024 | NEWS
The new Conservative Party leader, Kemi Badenoch, has finished appointing her Shadow Cabinet, which met for the first time today around 10am.
Ms Badenoch won 53,806 votes from party members, compared to Robert Jenrick’s 41,388, in a result announced on Saturday. Mr Jenrick, who was her final remaining contender in the Conservative leadership contest, has now been offered a role as Shadow Justice Secretary, which he has accepted.
His Majesty’s new Leader of the Opposition has also appointed former leadership rivals Mel Stride and Dame Priti Patel as Shadow Chancellor and Shadow Foreign Secretary, respectively. Jeremy Hunt, who became the interim Shadow Chancellor after the Conservatives’ landslide election defeat on 4 July, will return to the backbenches.
The other two contenders in the contest – James Cleverly and Tom Tugendhat – have both announced that they will not seek to serve in the new Shadow Cabinet, also returning to the backbenches. The final senior Shadow frontbench appointment was Ms Badenoch’s ally Chris Philp as Shadow Home Secretary.
Mr Philp had held a range of ministerial roles across various government departments when the Conservatives were still in power. However, Wolves understands that this particular appointment has come as something of a surprise to Westminster insiders. It is generally assumed that his support for Ms Badenoch’s leadership campaign has helped him earn his new role.
The rest of the Shadow Cabinet is composed as follows:
- Shadow Secretary of State for Education – Laura Trott
- Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland – Alex Burghart
- Shadow Secretary of State for Defence – James Cartlidge
- Shadow Health and Social Care Secretary – Ed Argar
- Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities – Kevin Hollinrake
- Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs – Victoria Atkins
- Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade – Andrew Griffith
- Shadow Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero and Shadow Minister for Equalities – Claire Coutinho
- Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions – Helen Whately
- Shadow Secretary of State for Transport – Gareth Bacon
- Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport – Stuart Andrew
- Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology – Alan Mak
- Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland and Shadow Minister of State for Energy and Net Zero – Andrew Bowie
- Shadow Secretary of State for Wales and Shadow Minister for Women – Mims Davies
- Shadow Leader of the House of Commons – Jesse Norman
- Shadow Leader of the House of Lords – Lord True
- Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury – Richard Fuller
The Opposition Chief Whip is now to be Dame Rebecca Harris, while two new joint Party Chairmen have been appointed – Nigel Huddleston and Lord Johnson.
In a statement, the new Leader of the Opposition said: “I am delighted to have appointed my Shadow Cabinet, which draws on the talents of people from across the Conservative Party, based on meritocracy and with a breadth of experience and perspective, just as I promised during the campaign.
“Our party’s problems will only be solved with a team effort, and I am confident my Shadow Cabinet Ministers will deliver effective opposition as we seek to win back the trust of the public.
“We will now get to work holding Labour to account and rebuilding our party based on conservative principles and values. The process of renewing our great party has now begun.”
The various Shadow Cabinet appointments are being viewed in Westminster as largely a continuation of the previous regime, Wolves understands, though also as a sign that various reshuffles may be made later on as Ms Badenoch continues to set out her ‘Renewal 2030’ agenda in the coming years.
One Conservative commentator, and member of a student Conservative society, also referred to the limited size of the party’s parliamentary representation, leaving the new leader with little leg room to work from in making both junior and senior Opposition appointments. This source further suggested that the refusal by Jeremy Hunt, James Cleverly and Tom Tugendhat to take up positions in the new Shadow Cabinet – on the assumption that these had been offered in the first place – would probably have created an extra headache for Ms Badenoch.
There is also significant speculation as to how long her tenure will last, with both positive and negative views expressed along various wings of the party. However, even within groups as diverse as the TRG (Tory Reform Group) and the CDO (Conservative Democratic Organisation), it is understood that views remain split.
One activist and former Campaign Manager for the Conservative Party, based in the North West, when asked by Wolves for any thoughts on the new Shadow Cabinet, simply said: “not really”, but did rate one of the new Chairmen as “sound”. Another from the same area, who did not support Badenoch, said they were “not a fan”, and hinted that a new leadership election may already be in the offing.
The new Shadow Cabinet has yet to lay out its upcoming policy priorities, with updates anticipated in the coming months.
