Badenoch set to reveal new Conservative shadow cabinet
Kemi Badenoch is set to begin naming her shadow cabinet ahead of its first meeting on Tuesday.
The new Tory leader is yet to name her top team following her victory in the leadership election on Saturday, although several MPs have been widely tipped for frontbench roles.
Former Treasury minister Andrew Griffith has been reported to be in contention for the shadow chancellor job, while other potential frontbenchers include former energy security secretary Claire Coutinho and interim shadow culture secretary Julia Lopez.
Appointments
But one appointment emerged on Sunday night without an official announcement after interim chief whip Stuart Andrew revealed he was being replaced by Essex MP Dame Rebecca Harris.
Dame Rebecca, who has represented Castle Point since 2010, has been a whip since 2018.
It is also understood that Ms Badenoch has appointed Nigel Huddleston and Lord Dominic Johnson as joint chairmen of the Conservative Party.
They will join the new Tory leader at party headquarters on Monday morning to meet staff, the PA news agency understands.
Ms Badenoch wants her team in place before she holds her first shadow cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
But it is not clear whether there will be a new shadow education secretary in time for education questions in the Commons on Monday afternoon.
Victory
The announcement of the new shadow cabinet follows Ms Badenoch’s victory over former immigration minister Robert Jenrick in the Tory leadership race on Saturday.
In her first media appearance since that victory, she told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg that she would tell “hard truths” to the country and her party.
But she drew criticism for suggesting that the Partygate scandal that saw Boris Johnson fined for breaking lockdown rules had been “overblown”.
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Oh boy, three appointment’s so far, certainly popcorn time.
Shadow Chancellor, Mel Stride.
Shadow Foreign Sec: Priti Patel.
It’s like these people sit around a table and are dealt a card. Whatever the card says, that’s the job and a merry go round could take place at any time. Are any qualifications considered for these roles? The swirl of role switching in recent times says no, they just chuck anyone in to bully the civil servants.
Why bother? Hasn’t she got any hobbies?