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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Politics
Rachael Burford

Kemi Badenoch makes her first frontbench appointments as Tory leader

Kemi Badenoch has made her first major opposition front bench appointments since being named leader of the Conservative party.

In a sign that she is hoping to unite her party after months of infighting, leadership rival Robert Jenrick was named shadow justice secretary on Monday.

Ms Badenoch also chose two other MPs who had run against her to replace Rishi Sunak for senior roles.

Mel Stride became shadow chancellor and Priti Patel shadow foreign secretary.

Newly elected leader of the Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, waves as she leaves party headquarters on Monday (PA Wire)

The new Tory leader said she would offer all her rivals in the race roles in her shadow cabinet, but former home secretary James Cleverly has already ruled himself out from such a job.

An ally of Mr Jenrick said: “Rob thinks the party needs to come together and take the fight to Labour. Unity could not be more important. He’s eager to expose Labour’s dreadful record on law and order.”

Ex Treasury minister Laura Trott is shadow education secretary.

Ms Trott will be joined by Tory former minister Neil O’Brien as a shadow education minister. Both were on the opposition front bench for education questions in the Commons on Monday afternoon.

Ms Badenoch was at the party’s headquarters in Westminster on Monday morning as she is in the process of deciding who will be in her top team.

She was expected to name her shadow cabinet team today ahead of their first meeting on Tuesday.

In an address to Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ) staff she said the first challenge for the party will be winning back council seats at local elections next year.

Priti Patel was named shadow foreign secretary (Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire)

She is also understood to have said the party can turn their situation around in one term. Policy announcements will come soon, but the party needs to start with principles such as freedom of speech and personal responsibility, she added.

It was reported on Sunday that Essex MP Dame Rebecca Harris would become the new Tory chief whip while Nigel Huddleston and Lord Dominic Johnson have been made joint party chairmen.

Mr Huddleston and Lord Johnson are understood to have been appointed because of their broad experience in the party.

Meanwhile Tory big beasts, including Shadow Foreign Secretary Andrew Mitchell, ex PM Rishi Sunak and former chancellor Jeremy Hunt are expected to go to the backbenches and not take up leading roles under Ms Badenoch.

Ex Tory Treasury minister Laura Trott (PA Wire)

The announcement of the new shadow cabinet follows Ms Badenoch’s victory over former immigration minister Mr 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.

She drew criticism for suggesting the so-called partygate scandal that saw Boris Johnson fined for breaking lockdown rules had been “overblown”.

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