Who’s who in Kemi Badenoch’s shadow cabinet

Priti Patel rejoins Conservative Party front bench after two years out of the spotlight as new leader assembles her top team

Dame Priti Patel has been appointed shadow foreign secretary, despite having been fired from Baroness May’s Cabinet over holding secret meetings with Israeli politicians.
She was given the shadow cabinet role on Monday by Kemi Badenoch, who is assembling her top team after winning the Tory leadership election.
The former home secretary, who ran in the leadership contest, joins fellow former contender Mel Stride, who has been appointed shadow chancellor.
Dame Priti’s appointment comes despite her having been forced to quit her job as international development secretary in 2017 for holding undisclosed meetings in Israel.
She failed to inform the Foreign Office of her plans to meet the leader of one of Israel’s political parties, as well as other politicians, during a personal holiday in the country.
Dame Priti was ordered to fly back to London by Lady May, after which she resigned.
Both the Right and moderate factions of the Tories have been represented in Mrs Badenoch’s picks for the top jobs.
James Cleverly, Andrew Mitchell, Jeremy Hunt and Sir Oliver Dowden ruled themselves out from taking front-bench roles.
Mrs Badenoch appointed the rest of her front-bench team before holding the first shadow cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
The former pensions secretary, who was knocked out of the Conservative leadership race in the second round, has been the MP for Central Devon since 2010.
Mr Stride, 63, came to politics later in life after a career in business.
He has previously served as chairman of the Treasury select committee, and financial secretary to the Treasury and paymaster general under Lady May.
The former Cabinet minister is from the more moderate wing of the party and his appointment will be seen as part of Mrs Badenoch’s attempt to unite MPs from across the party.
Dame Priti has returned to the Conservative front bench, having been out of the spotlight for two years.
The long-time ally of Boris Johnson, who served as his home secretary throughout his time in No 10, is a prominent figure on the Right of the party.
The MP for Witham since 2010, she launched the ill-fated Rwanda deportation scheme during her time at the Home Office, and was known for taking a hard line on immigration and crime.
The self-styled “lifelong Brexiteer” ran to be Tory leader, but crashed out of the race in the first round of MP votes.
Dame Priti has previously served as international development secretary, a brief with similarities to her new shadow cabinet role.
She was forced to resign from that post in 2017 when she failed to disclose meetings she held with senior Israeli politicians while on a personal holiday to the country that year.
The former Home Office minister, who lost out in the final round of the Tory leadership election, is known for his hard-line stance on immigration and his strong advocacy of leaving the European Convention on Human Rights.
Mr Jenrick had a career as a solicitor before entering Parliament and was first elected as MP in 2014.
During the final weeks of the fierce leadership contest, Mr Jenrick accused Mrs Badenoch of being “disrespectful” to the Tory leadership by deciding not to set out detailed policies.
First elected in 2019 as the MP for Sevenoaks in Kent, Ms Trott served as a work and pensions minister and then chief secretary to the Treasury in Rishi Sunak’s government.
Ms Trott, 39, endorsed Mrs Badenoch in the Conservative Party leadership election and was one of her earliest backers. She has been rewarded with a promotion to shadow education secretary.
Born in Oxted, Surrey, she attended a state school before going on to study history and economics at Oxford University.
She cites Sir John Major as an inspiration in her decision to join the Conservative Party in her teens.
She also helped to write David Cameron’s election-winning manifesto in 2015 when she worked as a political adviser for No 10.
Ms Trott was also instrumental in legislation banning under-18s from being able to receive cosmetic Botox and fillers by tabling a private member’s bill which became law in 2021.
The MP for Castle Point, Essex, since 2010 has been promoted to chief whip. She was made a dame in the King’s Birthday Honours in June for her political service – particularly in relation to Brexit, having campaigned to leave in the 2016 referendum – and domestic abuse legislation.
The former Treasury minister has been promoted to co-chairman of the party.
Mr Huddleston, first elected in 2015 for Mid Worcestershire, has held government positions in three Whitehall departments.
The 54-year-old previously worked for Deloitte and Google before beginning his political career.
He studied at Oxford University before heading to Los Angeles to study for an MBA.
He is a patron of the Tory Reform Group of MPs, who represent a more moderate strand of “one nation” conservatism than Mrs Badenoch’s.
Lord Johnson has previously worked under Mrs Badenoch as a trade minister, after being appointed to the House of Lords by Liz Truss when she was in No 10.
Since October 2022, he has also held the various positions of minister for the Cabinet Office and the minister for investment.
He was vice-chairman of the party under Lady May between 2016 and 2019 and was a co-founder of Somerset Capital Management, an investment firm he set up with Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg in 2007.
Lord Johnson has also donated over £275,000 to the Tories over the past decade.
The MP for Harborough, Oadby and Wigston and former health minister had moved to the backbenches after resigning from Mr Sunak’s government in November 2023.
First elected in 2017, he served under George Osborne as a special adviser for four years as well as for Lady May when she was in Downing Street.
Mr O’Brien studied philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford University before entering politics. He also founded the Conservative think tank Onward in 2018.
He has been sanctioned by China and was a co-founder of the China Research Group hoping to push for more debate on how the UK should deal with relations with the country.
The former policing minister has been promoted to the role of shadow home secretary after supporting Mrs Badenoch’s leadership campaign.
Mr Philp was first elected as MP for Croydon South in 2015 following a career in business setting up finance and travel firms. 
The long-time Badenoch ally has received the role of shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, alongside his shadow Northern Ireland brief.
The Brentwood and Ongar MP was Mrs Badenoch’s campaign co-chief whip after entering Parliament in the same intake as her in 2017.
The former defence minister has kept his role as shadow defence secretary under Mrs Badenoch. 
The South Suffolk MP, first elected in 2015, voted Remain in the Brexit referendum and has held other government positions including in the Ministry of Justice and the Treasury.
Mr Argar is one of just three Jenrick supporters to have received a shadow Cabinet job. 
The former justice and then health minister has received a promotion to the shadow health brief. The Melton and Syston MP was first elected in 2015.
The former business minister had assumed the role of shadow business secretary after the general election defeat but has been moved to the shadow communities role.
While in government Mr Hollinrake had also held the role of postal affairs minister and was in charge of overseeing the compensation scheme for victims of the Horizon scandal.
The former health secretary has been handed the role of shadow environment secretary. She backed Mr Jenrick and the brief could be regarded as a demotion from her previous shadow health role.
However, a Badenoch campaign source said that Ms Atkins, who entered Parliament in 2015, “asked specifically” for the brief so that she could “take the fight to Labour” on farming.
Ms Atkins worked as a barrister before becoming the MP for Louth and Horncastle.
A key Badenoch ally and a very vocal supporter of her Renewal 2030 campaign, Mr Griffith has been given Mrs Badenoch’s former government brief as shadow business secretary.
Mr Griffith, who served as science secretary while in Government, also held several Treasury roles. He became an MP in the 2019 election after a career in business and finance.