Kemi Badenoch’s shadow cabinet reshuffle has removed Sir Mel Stride and Dame Priti Patel from the Conservative front bench, with Andrew Griffith taking over as shadow chancellor and Tom Tugendhat stepping in as shadow foreign secretary.
The reshuffle, announced on 31 August 2026, comes ahead of the party’s conference in October. With most polls placing the Conservatives in third place behind Labour and Reform UK, Badenoch is seeking a refreshed top team to restore the party’s standing with voters.
Kemi Badenoch shadow cabinet reshuffle: the key appointments
Griffith, who became MP for Arundel and South Downs in 2019, previously served as a top executive at Sky and as chairman of Just Eat. He will head a new Conservative economic unit alongside Claire Coutinho, who moves from shadow energy secretary to shadow business secretary and will act as his deputy. Richard Fuller, a former Conservative chairman and City Minister, joins the unit with a focus on fiscal responsibility and tax.
Griffith set out an assertive agenda for his new role. ‘The Conservatives will always back the risk-takers and wealth creators who deliver growth, investment and jobs,’ he said, promising ‘an economic revolution’ built on lower taxes, domestic energy drilling, reduced regulation and repeal of Labour’s Employment Rights Act.
A senior Conservative source described Griffith as ‘a no-nonsense, pro-growth shadow chancellor with real business experience’ and said Badenoch was ‘creating a new economic leadership team for the next phase, focused on growth, higher living standards and fiscal credibility.’
His appointment drew immediate criticism. Chief Secretary to the Treasury Emma Reynolds noted that Griffith had backed Liz Truss to be prime minister and highlighted his role during the 2022 mini-budget, which she said ‘left families paying the price’. ‘Same old Tories, same old economic policies,’ Reynolds added.
Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper said Griffith ‘helped deliver the Truss mini-budget that sent mortgages soaring and the economy into turmoil’, adding that his appointment showed the Conservatives were ‘happy to forfeit any claim to economic credibility in their race to the bottom with Reform UK.’
Reform UK shadow chancellor Robert Jenrick was equally dismissive. ‘They haven’t changed and still aren’t sorry for the damage they inflicted on our country,’ he said. ‘The Tories just cannot be trusted to cut handouts to illegal migrants, end mad net zero subsidies or to slash the ballooning benefits bill.’
Departures and the reasons behind the shake-up
Sir Mel, who was appointed shadow chancellor following Badenoch’s leadership election in 2024, described his time in the role as ‘a great honour’. Badenoch said he had helped the party rebuild economic credibility and become an effective opposition. Some recent polls, however, suggested that Reform UK were more trusted on the economy than the Conservative Party, and Badenoch decided that needed to change.
Dame Priti, shadow foreign secretary since 2024, will return to the backbenches and take on a new international role strengthening the Conservatives’ relationships with sister parties and centre-right movements abroad. While familiar figures such as Dame Priti brought high-level government experience, their presence also risked reminding voters of the party they rejected decisively in 2024.
Tugendhat, a former security minister and current army reservist who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, replaces her as shadow foreign secretary. Badenoch intends him to work closely with the shadow defence secretary, with defence spending and national security identified as areas where Labour is perceived to be vulnerable.
The reshuffle also leaves two further vacancies to fill. Stuart Andrew confirmed he is returning to the backbenches, leaving the shadow health secretary brief open. Sir James Cleverly has quit the front bench to pursue a parliamentary candidacy for London mayor, vacating the shadow housing secretary post.
Coutinho is seen within the party as a potential future chancellor, having performed well shadowing former energy secretary Ed Miliband in the Commons. Fuller’s presence in the economic unit is intended to signal that Badenoch is serious about making the Conservatives’ fiscal numbers add up, in contrast to her characterisation of Reform UK’s plans as ill-thought out.
Badenoch now faces a further test: whether a new-look top team translates into greater visibility for her frontbenchers, given her tendency to lead from the front on major announcements and media appearances. For the Conservatives to present themselves as a government in waiting, the party will need to demonstrate breadth across the shadow cabinet, not only at its summit.
