The reshuffle is ongoing. Follow it live here:
The Tories have an eye on their swing voters. Will Badenoch’s top team pivot to the centre…
After long months of denying she would do so, Badenoch will shuffle her Shadow Cabinet on Parliament’s return. An opportunity to promote the star backbenchers…
The Tory leader resisted plans to do so after the locals drubbing in May. Now Burnham’s in, some changes have to happen…
Shadow Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho’s second child will take her out of action on maternity leave. The Telegraph reports that shadow solicitor general Helen Grant will also shuffle out after saying she would not stand at the next election. DSIT has been abolished so Julia Lopez will have to go somewhere…
Mel Stride and Priti Patel get the most flak from Tories who accuse them of underperforming. On the economy brief some mooted names include Coutinho (out of action for at least three months or so) and Andrew Griffith, who is currently Shadow Business Secretary. It’s a small party…
ConHome’s latest Shadow Cabinet rankings have Badenoch extending favourability among Tory members since May, with Shadow Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho pipping Shadow Justice Sec Nick Timothy to second place. At the bottom of the list, Stuart Andrew has come out of single digits, and Priti Patel is heading that way…
| Net | Change | ||
| 1 | Kemi Badenoch | +86.9 | ▲ +2.0 |
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| 2 | Claire Coutinho | +71.3 | ▲ +11.7 |
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| 3 | Nick Timothy | +64.2 | ▲ +2.4 |
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| 4 | Mel Stride | +63.4 | ▲ +9.1 |
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| 5 | Laura Trott | +55.7 | ▲ +5.4 |
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| 6 | Chris Philp | +55.4 | ▲ +1.9 |
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| 7 | Andrew Griffith | +53.9 | ▲ +8.6 |
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| 8 | James Cleverly | +52.5 | ▲ +3.9 |
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| 9 | James Cartlidge | +49.8 | ▲ +3.0 |
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| 10 | Kevin Hollinrake | +48.7 | ▼ −0.1 |
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| 11 | Helen Whately | +48.1 | ▲ +7.1 |
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| 12 | Alex Burghart | +45.6 | ▲ +5.1 |
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| 13 | Victoria Atkins | +42.7 | ▼ −0.7 |
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| 14 | Jesse Norman | +36.3 | ▲ +4.7 |
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| 15 | Nigel Huddleston | +34.1 | ▲ +6.7 |
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| 16 | Richard Fuller | +33.1 | ▲ +3.3 |
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| 17 | Neil O’Brien | +32.6 | ▲ +1.8 |
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| 18 | Andrew Bowie | +32.0 | ▲ +6.2 |
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| 19 | Lord True | +27.8 | ▼ −1.1 |
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| 20 | Julia Lopez | +27.4 | ▲ +6.5 |
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| 21 | Rebecca Harris | +27.2 | ▼ −3.8 |
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| 22 | Baroness Williams | +23.8 | ▲ +0.3 |
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| 23 | Mims Davies | +23.2 | ▲ +3.5 |
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| 24 | Richard Holden | +20.3 | ▲ +1.7 |
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| 25 | Stuart Andrew | +13.8 | ▲ +4.4 |
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| 26 | Priti Patel | +12.0 | ▼ −3.7 |
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| Devolved leaders | |||
| Russell Findlay | +22.9 | ▲ +19.0 | |
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| Darren Millar | +11.6 | ▲ +7.5 | |
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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…
Andy Haldane, Burnham’s recent adviser on the economy who has not taken up a No10 job, told Andrew Marr on LBC:
“The market now suspects that this is a traditional tax-and-spend socialist government with better TikTok videos…
imposing windfall taxes on oil & gas or on banks or upping capital gains tax would […] repeat the mistake that Rachel made […] The Achilles heel, the fiscal Achilles heel of this government thus far has been its unwillingness and/or inability to cut public spending.”