Kemi Badenoch has appointed Robert Jenrick shadow justice secretary, with Mel Stride shadow chancellor and Priti Patel shadow foreign secretary, as she began to put together a frontbench team billed as uniting the Conservatives.
There were, however, questions about whether Jenrick had initially sought another post, in a sign of potential tensions between the final two candidates to replace Rishi Sunak.
The appointment of three MPs who ran against Badenoch in the leadership contest followed her decision to make Laura Trott, a leading supporter of her campaign, shadow education secretary.
It remained unclear whether Jenrick’s move to what could be seen as a mid-range shadow cabinet job was his first choice, after reports that he and Badenoch had been wrangling over his role. An ally of Jenrick said: “Robert was always keen to serve.”
Badenoch had already appointed two other supporters to jobs, with Rebecca Harris becoming chief whip, and Nigel Huddlestone being made Conservative party co-chair alongside Dominic Johnson, a Tory peer and former donor.
Neil O’Brien, who had been widely tipped for a shadow cabinet job, was made number two in the education team, regarded by some observers as a slight snub for a supporter of Jenrick, who Badenoch defeated in a vote of Tory members, a result announced on Saturday.
Allies of Badenoch said that no more appointments would be made on Monday, with the full list to be announced before a shadow cabinet meeting on Tuesday, to avoid a “running commentary” as jobs were finalised.
With only 121 MPs on the Tory benches – the full government complement is 124 – Badenoch will be somewhat limited on who she picks. This is all the more so with some senior Tories saying they do not want jobs.
These include Jeremy Hunt, the former chancellor and shadow chancellor, and James Cleverly, the shadow home secretary who was favourite to become the next leader until he was surprisingly removed in the final vote among Tory MPs.
Jenrick trained as a solicitor and worked as a corporate lawyer, and so has a suitable background for the justice brief. His last government job was as immigration minister, and he made migration and his desire for the UK to withdraw from the European convention on human rights the key part of his leadership bid.
The contest included coded if personal attacks between Jenrick and Badenoch. He promised to “end the drama”, a reference to Badenoch’s penchant for arguments, and was furious when she talked about Jenrick having to “resign in disgrace” as housing minister after a controversy about a planning-related conflict of interest.
The appointment of Stride will be seen as a sign of Badenoch seeking to reach out to centrists in the party, particularly after Andrew Griffith, another one of her key supporters, had been closely linked to the job.
Stride was one of six candidates to succeed Sunak as Tory leader, but was knocked out in the second round of voting by Conservative MPs. He then backed James Cleverly before Cleverly in turn was knocked out.
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Stride was work and pensions secretary under Rishi Sunak, having previously served as a Treasury minister and chaired the Treasury committee.
Patel, who also stood to be leader but was knocked out in the first round, has had a chequered ministerial career, only surviving as home secretary when Boris Johnson refused to sack her despite a formal investigation finding evidence that she had bullied civil servants.
The controversy, one of several to afflict Johnson’s government, saw the then PM’s adviser on ethics, Sir Alex Allan, resign after Johnson decided to keep Patel in her post despite an official report uncovering conduct that “amounted to behaviour that can be described as bullying”, including instances of shouting and swearing.
In 2017, Patel was forced to resign as international development secretary under Theresa May after holding a series of unofficial meetings with Israeli ministers, business people and a senior lobbyist while in Israel on what was billed as a holiday.
A source in Badenoch’s team said the decision to appoint the two former candidates from different wings of the party – Patel is from the right and Stride a centrist – was “demonstrating Kemi’s desire to unite the party”.
Badenoch appointed Trott earlier on Monday, so she could speak at education questions and respond to a government statement on increased university tuition fees.