New Shadow Cabinet – Who’s who and what do we already know?

Kemi Badenoch MP – Prime Minister

Kemi Badenoch has officially become Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Conservative Party, beating Robert Jenrick at the members’ vote stage of the contest. Her election as leader marks the first black woman in Britain to lead a major political party.

She has been the MP for Saffron Walden since 2017 and is a self-proclaimed ‘straight talker.’ She has vowed that she and her cabinet will ‘take the fight to Labour’ and reunify the Conservative Party after their last electoral defeat.  

Chris Phillip MP: Shadow Home Secretary

Chris Phillip is the former policing shadow minister and MP for Croydon South. Phillip has been in office since 2015. He has worked in Rishi Sunak, Lizz Truss and Boris Johnson governments. He was previously appointed to Liz Truss’s cabinet from September to October 2022 as Chief Secretary to the Treasury and then as Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General. Phillip supported Badenoch throughout her leadership campaign.

In the short time that he has been Shadow Home Secretary he has already issued a hardline approach calling for ‘Zero tolerance for criminals’ and to end illegal migration.

Alex Burghart MP: Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Shadow for the Secretary of State of Northern Ireland.

Alex Burghart is formerly a special advisor to Theresa May and has served as Shadow Secretary to Northern Ireland since 2024. He has been the MP for Brentwood and Ongar since 2017.

Burghart, one of the few Tory MPs to retain his seat in the July general election, was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland by Rishi Sunak. Since taking on the role, he has spoken out on Northern Ireland issues, including a September statement where he criticized Labour for being “nervous” about supporting the union.

His newer title as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster makes him the second most senior person in the Cabinet.

Kevin Hollinrake MP – Shadow Housing Secretary

Kevin Hollinrake is the MP for Thirsk and Malton since May 2015.

Hollinrake served as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy from October 2022 to February 2023. He then held the same role in the Department of Business and Trade between February 2023 and March 2024, before being promoted to Minister of State in the same department in March 2024. After the July election, he was appointed Shadow Secretary for Business and Trade in Rishi Sunak’s interim shadow cabinet.

Hollinrake has been an active speaker in the House of Commons on housing and planning issues. In a recent debate, he expressed support for Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s commitment to cutting red tape and regulations, noting the economic bottlenecks in planning and infrastructure and emphasizing the need for faster project delivery.

Robert Jenrick MP: Shadow Justice Secretary

Robert Jenrick was one of the leadership candidates in the 2024 Conservative Leadership and is now the new Shadow Justice Secretary.

Prior to this, Robert Jenrick briefly served on the Health Select Committee before becoming an aide to key ministers, including Home Secretary Amber Rudd and Justice Secretary Michael Gove. In January 2018, he was appointed Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury by Prime Minister Theresa May. Eighteen months later, when Boris Johnson became Prime Minister, Jenrick was promoted to Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, making him the youngest cabinet member at the time. His role involved tackling complex issues, with planning and housing being among the most challenging. As Communities Secretary he delivered record investment in forgotten towns across the country, and raised the number of housings starts to the highest number since 1987.

Priti Patel MP – Shadow Foreign Secretary

Priti Patel is another leadership candidate to take a position in the Badenoch cabinet.

In November 2006, Priti Patel became the Conservative candidate for the safe Witham seat in Essex, winning with a majority of 15,196 in the 2010 General Election. In 2012, she co-authored *Britain Unchained* with fellow Conservative MPs Dominic Raab, Liz Truss, and Kwasi Kwarteng, advocating for deregulation and criticizing British workers as “the worst idlers in the world.”

Patel was promoted to Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury in 2014 and became a leading figure in the campaign for Brexit during the 2016 EU referendum. After the referendum, she was appointed Secretary of State for International Development by Prime Minister Theresa May. However, her tenure ended in 2017 when she resigned following unauthorized meetings with Israeli officials, breaching the Ministerial Code. Ideologically, Patel is on the right wing of the Conservative Party, identifying as a Thatcherite and known for her socially conservative views.

Rebecca Harris MP – Chief Whip

Dame Rebecca, who has represented Castle Point since 2010, has been a whip since 2018. She replaces interim Chief Whip Stuart Andrew. Prior to becoming a Whip, Harris was a member of the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee and supported the Daylight Saving Bill, which aimed to move Britain to Central European Time. However, the bill failed to progress by 20 January 2012, so the UK remained on Western European Time.

Dame Rebecca, who supported the Leave campaign during the 2016 Brexit referendum, was also Comptroller of the Household between 2022 and 2024 – an ancient and largely ceremonial role handed to a government whip.

Mel Stride MP – Shadow Cabinet

Mel Stride has represented Central Devon since 2010. He too ran in the Conservative party leadership. But was voted out during the second round of voting.

Stride served as a government whip from 2015 to 2017 and as Paymaster General from 2017 to 2019. He briefly held a Cabinet position as Leader of the House of Commons for two months in 2019, before being sacked by Prime Minister Boris Johnson when he assumed office.

Stride supported Remain in the 2016 EU referendum.  He backed Michael Gove in the 2019 Conservative Party leadership election. Stride was the Chairman of the House of Commons Treasury Select Committee, where he became one of the most vocal critics of former Prime Minister Liz Truss’s 2022 minibudget.

James Cartilage MP – Shadow Defence Secretary

James Cartilage is the MP for South Suffolk first elected in 2015 and then re-elected in 2019.

James Cartlidge was appointed Minister of State for Defence Procurement in April 2023. Prior to this, he served as Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury from October 2022 to April 2023. He had previously held the position of Under Secretary of State at the Ministry of Justice in 2021 but resigned in July 2022 in protest over Boris Johnson’s continued tenure as prime minister.

Laura Trott MP – Shadow Education Secretary

Laura Trott is the MP for Sevenoaks, first elected in 2017.

Ms. Trott held various advisory roles under Prime Minister David Cameron, eventually becoming Director of Strategic Communications. After Theresa May’s 2017 general election, she left politics for a few years. She returned to the political scene in the 2019 general election, winning the safe Conservative seat of Sevenoaks from her predecessor, Michael Fallon.

During Boris Johnson’s premiership, Ms. Trott served on the Health and Social Care Select Committee, played a key role in guiding the China Research Group, and held a junior ministerial position at the Department for Transport. She resigned from government in the final days of Johnson’s leadership of the Conservative Party, before returning in 2022 as Parliamentary Under- Secretary of State at the Department for Work and Pensions.

In 2023, Ms. Trott was promoted to Chief Secretary to the Treasury during Rishi Sunak’s second Cabinet reshuffle.

Edward Argur MP – Shadow Health and Social Care Secretary

Edward Argar was first elected as the Conservative MP for Charnwood in 2015, being re-elected in 2019.

Since being elected to Parliament in 2015, Argur has served in several Ministerial positions, including Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice, Minister of State for Health from September 2019 to July 2022, and later as HM Paymaster-General and Minister for the Cabinet Office, attending Cabinet. He also held the role of Chief Secretary to the Treasury, and between October 2022 and July 2024, he was Minister of State for Justice.

Argar supported Sajid Javid and Boris Johnson in the 2019 Conservative leadership election and backed Remain in the 2016 EU referendum.

Victoria Atkins MP – Health and Social Care Secretary

MP for Louth and Horncastle in Lincolnshire, having represented the constituency since 2015.

She has held several ministerial positions in the governments of Theresa May and Boris Johnson. Her previous roles include Parliamentary Undersecretary of State for Women, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Safeguarding, Afghan Resettlement Minister, Prisons and Probation Minister, and most recently, Treasury Minister.

After a challenging three years globally due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Ms Atkins will take over from Mr Barclay at a difficult time for the UK’s public health service.

Andrew Griffiths MP – Shadow Business and Trade Secretary

Andrew Griffiths is the MP for Arundel and South Downs.

Griffith expressed his satisfaction with taking on the role, stating that Britain’s businesses need a supportive government. He criticized the current government for increasing burdens on businesses instead of reducing red tape, suggesting that businesses are being treated like “cash cows.”

Griffeth has held several key roles previously, including Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology from July to November 2024, and Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation from November 2023. Previously, he was Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Exports in mid-2022, Director of the Number 10 Policy Unit from February to July 2022, and Economic Secretary to the Treasury from 2022 to 2023.

Claire Coutinho MP – Shadow Secretary of State for Energy

Claire Coutinho is the Conservative MP for East Surrey in December 2019.

In September 2022, she was appointed minister for disabled people in the Department for Work and Pensions under Liz Truss. When Rishi Sunak became prime minister a month later, she was moved to a ministerial role in the Department for Education.

She has served as Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero since August 2023. Coutinho was appointed Energy Secretary by Rishi Sunak and advocated for the expansion of North Sea oil and gas extraction. She pushed for legislation to make licensing rounds for the industry mandatory every year. This proposal faced opposition from Tory MPs like Chris Skidmore and Alok Sharma and was eventually shelved during the 2024 general election. The new Labour government has vowed to halt new licensing. Coutinho emphasized prioritizing energy security over net-zero goals.

Helen Whately MP – Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary

Helen is the Member of Parliament for Faversham and Mid Kent, having been first elected in 2015 and re-elected in 2017, 2019, and 2024. In addition to representing her constituents, she has held the position of Shadow Secretary of State for Transport since July 2024. During the previous Parliament, Helen held several prominent government roles. She served as Minister of State for Health and Social Care in two separate terms: first during the COVID-19 pandemic from 2020 to 2021, and again from October 2022 until the 2024 general election. Between these periods as Care Minister, she was Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury from 2021 to 2022.

Despite opting for ‘Remain’ in the 2016 referendum vote, Whately toed the party line at all times during the Brexit process. She voted to trigger Article 50, for May’s Withdrawal Agreement, for Johnson’s Withdrawal Agreement and, finally, for Johnson’s post-Brexit trade deal.

Gareth Bacon MP – Shadow Transport Secretary

Gareth Bacon has been the MP for Orpington since 2019.

Bacon joined the Conservative Party in 1987 and had a long career in local government prior to serving as a London Assembly Member in 2008 and as a local councillor since 1998. He was elected as the Member of Parliament for Orpington in 2019 later resigning from the London Assembly.

Before being elected to Transport, Gareth Bacon was Shadow Minister for Business and Trade and Shadow Minister for Justice.

Stuart Andrew MP – Shadow Secretary for Media and Culture

Stuart has been MP for Daventry since 2024 and previously MP for Pudsey from 2010 and 2024.

In February 2021, Mr Andrew was appointed to the Privy Council, receiving the title of The Right Honourable Stuart Andrew MP. Stuart became Minister for Housing in February 2022, before resigning from the role in July 2022. During the Conservative Party leadership election, he served as interim Minister of State at the Ministry of Justice to maintain government stability.

Alan Mak MP – Shadow Science Secretary

Alan Mak has been the MP for Havant since 2015.

Before this, Mak briefly served as the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury between July and September 2022.  He was then a government whip between 2021 and 2022. He supported the ‘Remain’ campaign in the 2016 referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union and endorsed Jeremy Hunt in the 2019 Conservative leadership contest.

Andrew Bowie MP – Shadow Secretary  for Scotland

Andrew Bowie is the MP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine since 2017. Mr Bowie will also retain his title as Energy and Net Zero Minister.

Prior to his appointment as Shadow Minister for Scotland Andrew Bowie MP was appointed as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and as Minister for Equalities in the Department for Business and Trade in February 2023. Prior to this, he served as a junior minister at the Department for International Trade from October 2022 to February 2023.

Mims Davies MP – Shadow Secretary for Wales

Mimms Davis is the MP for East Grinstead since 2015.

Due to the complete Tory wipeout in Wales during the 2024 election, there were no Welsh MPs to take this post. However, Ms Davies did serve as a junior minister in Senedd back in 2018.

Prior to this Mims Davies has served in various ministerial positions. From 2018 to 2019, Ms Davies served as the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales and the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Sport in Theresa May’s government. Following Boris Johnson’s appointment as Prime Minister in July 2019, she was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Employment at the Department for Work and Pensions.  She did however resign as Employment Minister in July 2022, citing a loss of confidence in Johnson’s leadership.

Jesse Norman MP – Shadow Leader of the House of Commons

Jesse Norman has been the MP for Hereford and South Herefordshire since 2010.

Mr Norman previously served as Minister of State at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office from September to October 2022. Prior to that, he was Financial Secretary to the Treasury from 2019 to 2021, where he oversaw the COVID-19 furlough scheme and helped establish the UK Infrastructure Bank. As a backbencher, he was a member of the Treasury Select Committee 2010 to 2015, and Chair of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee in 2016 to 2017.

Lord True CBE – Shadow Leader of the House of Lords

Before entering government, Lord True served as Leader of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames from 2010 to 2017. He was Private Secretary to the Opposition Chief Whip in the House of Lords from 1997 to 2010 and Deputy Head of the Prime Minister’s Policy Unit under Sir John Major from 1990 to 1994.

In December 2010, Lord True was made a Life Peer and later chaired the Select Committee on Intergenerational Fairness. He was appointed a CBE in 1993.

Nigel Huddleston MP – Co-chairman of the Conservative Party

Nigel Huddleston is the MP for Droitwich and Evesham.

In July 2019, after Boris Johnson was elected leader of the Conservative Party and became Prime Minister, Nigel was invited to join the new government as an Assistant Government Whip. He worked closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

In September 2022, Mr Huddleston returned to the Whips’ office as a Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury. In February 2023, he was promoted to Minister of State in the newly formed Department for Business & Trade. Then, in November 2023, he was appointed Financial Secretary to the Treasury. After the 2024 election in July, he became Shadow Financial Secretary to the Treasury.

Lord Johnson – Co-chairman of the Conservative Party

Lord Johnson served as a Minister of State in the Department for Business and Trade under Rishi Sunak, after also holding a position in the department during Liz Truss’s tenure. Johnson has donated over £250,000 to the Conservative Party and was its vice-chairman from 2016 to 2019.

Lord Johnson is also the co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Somerset Capital Management

Richard Fuller – Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury

Richard Fuller represented Bedford as the Member of Parliament from 2010 to 2017, before being elected as the MP for North East Bedfordshire in December 2019. Ihe was re-elected as the MP for North Bedfordshire in 2024.

During his time in Parliament, he has been a member of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Select Committee and, for a brief period, the Public Accounts Committee. Additionally, he served as Economic Secretary to the Treasury.

Jennifer Lopez – Parliamentary Private Secretary

Jennifer Lopez is the MP for Hornchurch and Upminster since 2017.

Julia Lopez served as Minister of State in both the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology from 20 December 2023 to 5 July 2024. Prior to that, she held separate ministerial roles: as Minister of State at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology from 7 March 2023, and at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport from 7 February 2023.

She also served as Minister of State at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport from 16 September 2021 to 6 July 2022, and as Parliamentary Secretary at the Cabinet Office from 14 February 2020 to 15 September 2021.