Shadow Cabinet of Kemi Badenoch

For the wider team, see Opposition frontbench of Kemi Badenoch.

Badenoch Shadow Cabinet
Shadow cabinet of the United Kingdom
2 November 2024 –
Badenoch with members of her shadow cabinet during a session of Prime Minister's Questions in November 2024
Date formed	2 November 2024
People and organisations
Monarch	Charles III
Leader of the Opposition	Kemi Badenoch
Member party	Conservative
Status in legislature	Official Opposition 119 / 650 (18%)
History
Legislature terms	2024–present
Incoming formation	2024 Conservative leadership election
Predecessor	Shadow Cabinet of Rishi Sunak

Kemi Badenoch has served as the Leader of the Opposition as Leader of the Conservative Party since 2 November 2024, following her victory in the 2024 Conservative Leadership election. ^[1] The election was triggered by Rishi Sunak's resignation as party leader following the 2024 general election, which the Labour Party under Keir Starmer won. ^[2]

Formation

Badenoch hinted in a speech after her election victory that Robert Jenrick, her opponent in the election, might be offered a senior job, telling him "you have a key role in our party for years to come". ^[3] Subsequently, two days later, Jenrick was appointed both Shadow Lord Chancellor and Shadow Secretary of State for Justice. ^[4] The first appointment, made a day after the leadership election result was announced, saw Dame Rebecca Harris installed as Chief Whip. ^{[5] [6]}

Shadow cabinet appointments

Key

	Sits in the House of Commons
	Sits in the House of Lords

Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet of the United Kingdom

Portfolio	Shadow Minister			Constituency	Term
Shadow cabinet ministers
Leader of the Opposition Leader of the Conservative Party			The Rt Hon Kemi Badenoch MP	North West Essex	November 2024 –present
Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer			The Rt Hon Sir Mel Stride MP	Central Devon	November 2024 – present
Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs			The Rt Hon Dame Priti Patel DBE MP	Witham	November 2024 –present
Shadow Home Secretary			The Rt Hon Chris Philp MP	Croydon South	November 2024 –present
Shadow Secretary of State for Defence			James Cartlidge MP	South Suffolk	July 2024 –present
Shadow Lord Chancellor Shadow Secretary of State for Justice			The Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP	Newark	November 2024 –present
Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology			Julia Lopez MP	Hornchurch and Upminster	July 2025 –present [7]
Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care			The Rt Hon Stuart Andrew MP	Daventry	July 2025 –present [7]
Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government			The Rt Hon Sir James Cleverly TD VR MP	Braintree	July 2025 –present [7]
Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs			The Rt Hon Victoria Atkins MP	Louth and Horncastle	November 2024 –present
Shadow Leader of the House of Commons			The Rt Hon Jesse Norman MP	Hereford and South Herefordshire	November 2024 –present
Shadow Leader of the House of Lords			The Rt Hon The Lord True CBE PC	Member of the House of Lords	July 2024 –present
Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade			Andrew Griffith MP	Arundel and South Downs	November 2024 –present
Shadow Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Shadow Minister for Equalities			The Rt Hon Claire Coutinho MP	East Surrey	July 2024 –present
Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions			Helen Whately MP	Faversham and Mid Kent	November 2024 –present
Shadow Secretary of State for Education			The Rt Hon Laura Trott MBE MP	Sevenoaks	November 2024 –present
Shadow Secretary of State for Transport			The Rt Hon Richard Holden MP	Basildon and Billericay	July 2025 –present [7]
Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport			Nigel Huddleston MP	Droitwich and Evesham	July 2025 –present [7]
Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland			Alex Burghart MP	Brentwood and Ongar	November 2024 –present July 2024 –present
Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland			Andrew Bowie MP	West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine	November 2024 –present
Shadow Secretary of State for Wales Shadow Minister for Women			Mims Davies MP	East Grinstead and Uckfield	November 2024 –present
Chairman of the Conservative Party			Kevin Hollinrake MP	Thirsk and Malton	July 2025 –present [7]
Also attending shadow cabinet meetings
Opposition Chief Whip of the House of Commons			Dame Rebecca Harris DBE MP	Castle Point	November 2024 –present
Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury			Richard Fuller CBE MP	North Bedfordshire	November 2024 –present
Shadow Attorney General			The Rt Hon The Lord Wolfson of Tredegar KC	Member of the House of Lords	November 2024  – present
Shadow Minister for Policy Renewal and Development			Neil O'Brien OBE MP	Harborough, Oadby and Wigston	July 2025 –present [7]

Changes

November 2024

Changes from Sunak's shadow cabinet to Badenoch's Shadow Cabinet.

• Jeremy Hunt (Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer) returned to the backbenches and was succeeded by Mel Stride. ^[8]
• James Cleverly (Shadow Home Secretary) returned to the backbenches and was succeeded by Chris Philp. ^[9]
• Rishi Sunak (former Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Conservative Party) returned to the backbenches. ^[9]
• Steve Barclay (Shadow Environment Secretary) returned to the backbenches and was succeeded by Victoria Atkins. ^[9]
• Sir Oliver Dowden (former Deputy Prime Minister and Deputy Leader of the Opposition) returned to the backbenches. ^[10]
• Stuart Andrew (former Opposition Chief Whip of the House of Commons) was succeeded by Dame Rebecca Harris. ^[11]
• Damian Hinds (former Shadow Education Secretary) was succeeded by Laura Trott.
• Andrew Mitchell (former Shadow Foreign Secretary) was succeeded by Dame Priti Patel.
• Ed Argar (former Shadow Secretary of State for Justice) was succeeded by Robert Jenrick.
• Byron Davies, Baron Davies of Gower (former Shadow Secretary of State for Wales) became a junior Shadow Minister in the Home Office and was succeeded by Mims Davies.

July 2025

Main article: 2025 British shadow cabinet reshuffle

• Ed Argar (Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care) returned to the backbenches and was succeeded by Stuart Andrew. ^[7]
• Stuart Andrew was succeeded as Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport by Nigel Huddleston. ^[7]
• Nigel Huddleston was succeeded as Chairman of the Conservative Party by Kevin Hollinrake. ^[7]
• Kevin Hollinrake was succeeded as Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government by Sir James Cleverly. ^[7]
• Alan Mak (Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology) returned to the backbenches and was succeeded by Julia Lopez. ^[7]
• Gareth Bacon (Shadow Secretary of State for Transport) was succeeded by Richard Holden. ^[7]
• Neil O'Brien was promoted to the Shadow Cabinet in the new role of Shadow Minister for Policy Renewal and Development. ^[7]

References

1. Balls, Katy (2 November 2024). "What Kemi Badenoch's victory means for the Conservatives". The Spectator. Archived from the original on 7 December 2024. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
2. "Rishi Sunak resigns as Tory leader as well as PM after election defeat". The Guardian. 5 July 2024. Archived from the original on 7 July 2024. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
3. "Kemi Badenoch's speech in full as Tory leader: 'The time has come to tell the truth'". The Independent. 2 November 2024. Archived from the original on 7 December 2024. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
4. "Jenrick accepts role in Badenoch's top team". BBC News. Retrieved 8 November 2024.
5. "Kemi Badenoch makes first appointment to shadow cabinet". BBC News. Retrieved 3 November 2024.
6. "Kemi Badenoch makes first senior appointment as Conservative leader". Sky News. Archived from the original on 3 November 2024. Retrieved 3 November 2024.
7. Whannel, Kate (22 July 2025). "Cleverly returns to Tory front bench as Badenoch reshuffles team". BBC News . Retrieved 22 July 2025.
8. Cooke, Millie. "Jeremy Hunt to step down as shadow chancellor with end of Tory leadership race in sight". Independent.co.uk. Archived from the original on 1 November 2024. Retrieved 31 October 2024.
9. Mata, William (2 November 2024). "Three ex-Cabinet ministers rule out joining Kemi Badenoch's Tory front bench team". The Standard. Archived from the original on 7 November 2024. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
10. Craig, Jon (2 November 2024). "Who could make up Badenoch's new 'fightback' team?". Sky News . Retrieved 3 November 2024.
11. BBC Politics [@BBCPolitics] (3 November 2024). "Kemi Badenoch appoints Rebecca Harris as Conservative chief whip as she starts to assemble her shadow cabinet" (Tweet) – via Twitter.

External links

• His Majesty's Official Opposition: The Shadow Cabinet (parliament.uk)