Politics latest: Badenoch reshuffles Tory top team; Rayner warns immigration having ‘profound impact’ | Politics News

Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative Party leader, has embarked on a front bench reshuffle today – with James Cleverly heading back into the fray.

Asked about this, she said she was “very sorry” to see shadow health secretary Ed Argar leave his position.

“It was an opportunity to make a lot of changes with other shadow cabinet members had requested,” she said.

“Some people wanted to do something different or had a key interest in another area, and it was also an opportunity to bring back a very, very talented colleague in James Cleverly, and I’m thrilled that he is taking on the shadow housing and local government brief.”

She added that the “initial phase of just starting up in opposition” has now passed.

“We sort of know what the government is shaping up to look like, we know what other parties are doing, and I want to make sure that I have all the right people in all the rights roles,” Badenoch said.

“Of course, a shadow cabinet is a zero-sum move, if you’re moving people in one direction, others have to go in another. 

“But what I try to do is show that we are a cohesive team, representing all wings of the party, and feedback from my colleagues on what they would like to do is something that I do consider when I make changes.”