Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch is carrying out a reshuffle of her Shadow Cabinet as she aims to fight back against Nigel Farage and Reform UK. She is bringing in former rival Sir James Cleverly in a bid to revitalise her top team and ensure the Tories are ready for a huge battle over the summer months.
Polls have shown Conservatives pushed down into third place, as voters turn to Nigel Farage as an alternative to Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour government. But Mrs Badenoch hopes that by bringing in capable politicians like Sir James, a former Foreign Secretary who stood against her for the party leadership last year, she will begin making more of an impact.
A Senior Conservative source said: “The Leader of the Opposition will be making some changes to her front bench team today.
“The changes reflect the next stage of the Party’s policy renewal programme and underline the unity of the party under new leadership. Sir James Cleverly is expected to return in a prominent front bench role to take the fight to this dreadful Labour Government.”
A full list of changes and roles will be announced later this afternoon, sources say.
Sir James stood as a candidate in last year’s Conservative leadership election, but lost out on the Tory top job ahead of the final heat between Mrs Badenoch and her now-shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick.
Since the leadership contest, Sir James has returned to the Tory back benches as the MP for Braintree.
He has used his influential position as a former minister to warn against pursuing populist agenda akin to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.
Appearing at the Institute For Public Policy Research (IPPR) think tank last week, the senior Tory hit out at calls to “smash the system” and “start again from scratch”, branding them “complete nonsense”.
He also appeared to take a different position on net zero from party leader Mrs Badenoch in a recent speech, urging the Conservatives to reject climate change “luddites” on the right who believe “the way things are now is just fine”.
Reform UK is planning a summer blitz of policy announcements, including more details of plans to cut crime. However Conservatives will attack Reform for pledging to spend billions of pounds, and argue that Mr Farage has failed to explain where the money will come from.
Mrs Badenoch has focused on re-establishing the Conservatives as a credible and sensible party following the chaos of the last Conservative government, but polling has suggested that Reform UK has gained support from voters.
A recent poll by Opinium Research suggested Reform has the support of 29% of voters, with Labour on 24% and Conservatives on 18%.
Tory Shadow Cabinet members seen as performing badly are set to face the sack and make a return to the backbenches. Frances Maude, a veteran Tory who served as a minister in David Cameron’s government and is now a member of the House of Lords, has been advising Mrs Badenoch and could be given an official role.