Guido hears discussions are underway in LOTO about hardening the right wing Tory offer at the Shadow Cabinet level. Another right-wing shakeup could be on the way…
Sources say one candidate under consideration for moving along is Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride. Some influential Tory MPs bemoan Stride’s poor media performance and left-wing positions on tax. His record in government leaves something to be desired as well *cough* Loan Charge *cough*…
Badenoch has been buoyed by the Mandelson scandal this week. Her last shadow reshuffle was in July last year – sources say discussions are underway for another. If Stride – who is not close to Badenoch – leaves Shadow Cabinet he could shack up with the Gavin Barwell’s centrist ‘Prosper’ group. Something LOTO planners will be considering…
Guido members will have seen Tory dissatisfaction coming. A snippet from Guido’s member-exclusive ‘Right Angle’ column from 20 January:
‘One veteran Tory MP joked “that LibDem” won’t keep the Shadow Chancellor brief for long. Another was polite, but lethal: “I like Mel, but Jenrick should have been Shadow Chancellor. Mel’s got a 61-vote majority. Will he even contest the seat again? There should have been a more dynamic person in”.’
UPDATE: A source close to Kemi said: “There’s no truth to this whatsoever.” Bookmark it…
It’s grim reading for team LOTO as ConHome’s latest Tory shadow cabinet rankings drop. Last month, Badenoch fell to seventh—now she’s plummeted another 19 points to a bleak 14th place. More of her colleagues are ahead of her than behind…
It’s not looking pretty for Patel either as she falls well into the red following her comments on Never Mind the Ballots defending immigration under the Tories. Ex-leadership hopeful Robert Jenrick is top of the charts, storming ahead with a 57.4 points – more than four times Badenoch’s score of 13.3 – followed by Stride and Philp. That may set the cat among the pigeons…
Meanwhile, as Guido reported this morning CCHQ is bracing for another wave of redundancies. Donors are turning off the taps and staff are stretched thin. Some were left “devastated” after her all-staff meeting last week—sparking fresh grumbles over the lack of a clear strategy to take on a surging Reform. The Tory ship is looking far from steady…
While Labour grapples with chaos after sacking two cabinet ministers in just six months, the Tories are positioning themselves as the steady hand. Badenoch’s spokesman declared today there’ll be no reshuffle of her shadow cabinet until the next general election. Guido’s run the numbers, and it’s no surprise why…
It’s not just that 20% of the party already sits in the shadow cabinet, out of her 121 MPs, Kemi has already given 87 MPs a role in Opposition. Meaning 72% of the entire parliamentary party is already on the shadow frontbench. Talk about a full house:
It’s worth noting that Kemi gave all 26 new Tory MPs a job in Opposition. No reshuffle looks more like a Hobson’s choice…
Kemi Badenoch has officially unveiled her Shadow Cabinet ahead of its inaugural meeting today, and it’s a staggering show of loyalty—20 out of 25 appointments were her supporters during the race. Only two, Victoria Atkins and Ed Argar, threw their lot in with Robert Jenrick, while three former leadership rivals—Jenrick, Mel Stride, and Priti Patel—managed to snag a spot. Tom Tugendhat, on the other hand, was left out in the cold, though his allies claim he chose the backbenches of his own accord…
It was slim pickings for Kemi, having to choose 21% of the Tory MPs to fill her Shadow Cabinet – all with an eye on avoiding the Tory big beasts who helped secure the party’s disastrous electoral defeat. Still, only five members have been MPs since 2010, while four were elected in the 2019 wave. Meanwhile, the Shadow Cabinet is only just on the pro-Brexit side, with 14 ministers firmly in the pro-Leave camp and 11 who backed Remain in 2016. Guido gives you a breakdown of when the MPs were first elected, alongside their 2016 EU stance:
Enough to unite the party?
Shadow Foreign Secretary Andrew Mitchell now says he won’t serve in Kemi’s Shadow Cabinet:
“It has been an honour to serve under Rishi Sunak as Deputy Foreign Secretary and Shadow Foreign Secretary. But it is time to pass the baton! I look forward to continue serving my constituents in the Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield. Kemi Badenoch will have my full support from the backbenches as she rebuilds the Conservative Party, exposes the terrible Labour government and sets us on a path to victory at the next general election.”
That’s another Sunak Cabinet member bowing out of Badenoch’s opposition. Sunak himself, Jeremy Hunt, James Cleverly, and Oliver Dowden have said they will sit on the backbenches. Not to mention Cameron ruling himself out…
Many wets will be reluctant to throw their weight behind Kemi. Some Tories have seen it as a waiting game since the final two were selected…
UPDATE: Steve Barclay won’t serve either.
Badenoch is continuing to make the first appointments to her Shadow Cabinet. It will be together by their first meeting on Tuesday…
Guido will bring you more updates as they come…
Former leader of the SNP in Westminster Ian Blackford told Times Radio why he believes Nicola Sturgeon’s claim that she spent no time in the kitchen and therefore didn’t see any of her husband’s purchases:
“She doesn’t have a passion for cooking.”