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Badenoch is set to unveil a new Tory shadow cabinet

Badenoch is set to unveil a new Tory shadow cabinet

Kemi Badenoch is set to begin naming her shadow cabinet ahead of its first meeting on Tuesday.

The new Tory leader is yet to name her top team following her leadership election victory on Saturday, although many MPs are widely tipped for a frontbench role.

Former finance minister Andrew Griffith is reported to be in the running to become shadow chancellor, while other potential frontrunners include former energy security minister Claire Coutinho and interim shadow culture minister Julia Lopez.

But one appointment came on Sunday evening without official announcement after interim chief executive Stuart Andrew said he was being replaced by Essex MP Dame Rebecca Harris.

Dame Rebecca, who has represented Castle Point since 2010, has been whip since 2018.

Kemi Badenoch appears on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg
Kemi Badenoch came under fire after her first media appearance as Conservative leader, in which she said the Partygate scandal had been “overblown” (Geoff Overs/BBC/|PA)

It is understood Ms Badenoch wants her team in place before she holds her first shadow cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

But it is unclear whether the new shadow education secretary will appear in time to debate education in the Commons on Monday afternoon.

The announcement of a new shadow cabinet follows Ms Badenoch’s victory over former immigration minister Robert Jenrick in the Tory leadership race on Saturday.

In her first media appearance since the victory, she told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg program that she would tell the “hard truth” to the country and her party.

But she drew criticism for suggesting the Partygate scandal, which saw Boris Johnson fined for breaking lockdown rules, was “overblown”.