This opinion piece, written by John Crace, critiques a recent reshuffle of the Conservative shadow cabinet led by Kemi Badenoch. The key figure in question is Tom Tugendhat, who has been appointed foreign secretary despite being from the One Nation side of the party and potentially not aligning with Badenoch's Reform-lite Tory agenda. According to Crace, this appointment raises questions about whether Tugendhat is genuinely committed to Badenoch's policies. The article also mentions other shadow cabinet appointments, including Katie Lam as shadow housing secretary and Andrew Griffith as shadow chancellor, which are seen as questionable by the author.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-05,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the Conservative Party, has carried out a shadow cabinet reshuffle ahead of Parliament's return on Tuesday. As part of this change, Mel Stride has been removed as shadow chancellor and replaced by Andrew Griffith. Griffith is known for his experience in the private sector, having worked at Sky and as chairman of Just Eat. He will bring a "no-nonsense, pro-growth" approach to the role. Meanwhile, Tom Tugendhat has taken over from Dame Priti Patel as shadow foreign secretary, while James Cleverly is stepping down as shadow housing secretary to run for the London mayoralty. The reshuffle also sees Claire Coutinho, a highly-rated MP, move from energy secretary to business secretary, and Stuart Andrew return to the backbenches in a new role.
Written for “UK Conservative Party Reshuffle” on 2026-09-05,
grounded in this article and the 2 other(s) covering the same event.
It’s the end of summer and Kemi Badenoch chose to mark the occasion with a reshuffle of her shadow cabinet.
asserted
Badenoch → ’ → cabinet
Her aim is apparently to get the Tories match fit in case Andy Burnham calls an early general election, but the vibes are much more rearranging the deckchairs on a sinking ship.
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vibes → get → ship
After all, when the gene pool of talent is that small, there’s not much you can do.
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you → ’ → talent
James Cleverly got the ball rolling by announcing he was planning to be the Conservative candidate for London mayor in two years’ time.
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he → get → time
He may have his work cut out.
uncertain
work → have → ?
London is a liberal, multicultural city and unlikely to be won over by a party giving up on net zero and the European convention on human rights.
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London → win → rights
Cleverly’s replacement as shadow housing secretary is Katie Lam, who was only elected two years ago but has been desperate to attract attention by consistently saying the most offensive thing she can think of.
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she → elect → thing
This may not end well.
uncertain
This → end → ?
Priti Patel’s departure as foreign secretary was no great surprise as she has always been a liability, but Kemi’s decision to appoint Tom Tugendhat in her place did raise eyebrows.
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decision → appoint → eyebrows
Tom has always been from the One Nation side of the party and Kemi didn’t seem to realise that when he said: “If I had known Kemi was this good I wouldn’t have stood against her,” he had merely been joking.
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he → seem → her
He is at least a serious politician in the way Priti never was, but you also can’t help wondering if he is really signed up to Kemi’s Reform-lite Tory agenda.
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he → help → agenda
Still, Tom has never been one to shy away from going to war with anyone, so he and Kemi will have something in common.
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he → shy → something
That just leaves the change of shadow chancellor.
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That → leave → chancellor
It goes without saying that Mel Stride had always been endearingly hopeless, but the choice of Andrew Griffith to take over is bewildering.
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choice → go → Griffith
The Tories always like to play up Griffith’s career in business, but what the rest of the country will be focusing on is that he was the co-author and defender of Liz Truss’s disastrous mini-budget.
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he → like → budget
It should also be remembered that Griffith was Boris Johnson’s “net zero business champion” in 2020; something he and Kemi are also hoping to forget.
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he → remember → 2020
Maybe the key to understanding Griffith is that he is just a career opportunist who doesn’t really believe in anything.
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who → understand → anything
In which case he may fit in just fine.
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he → fit → ?
One politician who won’t be hurrying back to Westminster for the start of the new parliamentary session is Keir Starmer.
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who → hurry → session
He has just announced he is standing down as an MP.
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he → announce → MP
The only recent former prime minister to remain a backbencher and regularly turn up to debates in the Commons was Theresa May and she cut a somewhat sad figure.
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she → remain → figure
Her attendance was impressive but she never appeared to have any friends.
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she → appear → friends
What Keir is thinking now is anyone’s guess.
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thinking → think → What
We don’t all get the summer we were hoping for – I certainly didn’t – but Starmer’s must have been borderline surreal.
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Starmer → get → summer
It must be so hard for a prime minister to learn to switch off.
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minister → learn → ?
One day you’re the centre of attention with constant demands on your time, the next you’re a virtual ghost.
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you → ’re → time
Most former prime ministers have a tormented shadow to them, even years after they have left Downing Street.
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they → have → Street
As if they still can’t believe that the voters or their own MPs have rejected them.
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voters → believe → them
Keir will have been expecting to have spent the last six weeks on constant alert.
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Keir → expect → alert
Dealing with world events and travelling the country to convince everyone he was actually working.
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he → deal → everyone
A prime minister needs to be visible, or their enemies assume they are skiving.
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they → need → ?
Instead, his phone will have gone quiet with no one making any demands on his time.
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one → go → time
The fear of missing out must have been intense.
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fear → miss → ?
He might have wished Burnham well in public but in private he wouldn’t have been too sad if Andy was struggling just a little bit.
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Andy → wish → public
Just about all we did hear about Keir during the break was that he had donated a copy of Tom Baldwin’s biography of himself to the No 10 library.
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he → hear → library
Which felt, somehow a little desperate.
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Which → feel → ?
Something that just oozes class.
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that → ooze → class
But instead, like many prime ministers, he couldn’t resist giving a rose-tinted version of his deeds that will never be read by anyone.
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that → resist → anyone
It will survive to collect dust.
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It → survive → dust
Which only goes to show that with many politicians, it really is all about them.
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it → go → them
…and 64 more, not listed.
