Sir James Cleverly to make frontbench comeback as Kemi Badenoch reshuffles team
The Leader of the Opposition is expected to reshuffle her shadow cabinet on Tuesday.
A Conservative source said: 'The Leader of the Opposition will be making some changes to her frontbench 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 frontbench role to take the fight to this dreadful Labour Government.'
Sir James served as both foreign secretary and home secretary when the Conservatives were in power.
He 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'.
A list of full changes to the Conservative frontbench team will be announced on Tuesday afternoon.
Allies of shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride believe he will remain in his post, while attention will be focused on whether Mrs Badenoch keeps Mr Jenrick in his current role.
The former leadership contender has strayed well beyond his justice brief, building a prominent social media presence with campaigns on a range of issues from tackling fare dodgers on the London Underground to the impact of immigration on housing.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
26 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Starmer faces mounting calls for a Lionesses Bank Holiday if England women retain their Euros title after dramatic semi-final comeback
English football fans should get a day off to celebrate if the Lionesses bring it home by winning the Euros for the second time in a row, Keir Starmer has been told today. The Prime Minister is facing renewed calls for a Bank Holiday if the women's national team beat either German or Spain in Sunday's final. The Lionesses tested the nation's stress levels again last night with an incredible extra-time win over Italy in a semi-final, after scoring second from the end of normal time and extra time. Last-gasp goals by Michelle Agyemang and Chloe Smith saw them overcome Italy 2-1 in Geneva. No10 has been resisting calls to give millions of workers a day off, despite Sir Keir backing calls for a Bank Holiday when they won the Euros in 2022, when he was opposition leader. Liberal Democrat culture, media and sport spokesman Max Wilkinson said that it was important for the nation to mark 'the talent, success and historic achievement' of the team. 'The Lionesses can make history on Sunday and retain the Euros title they won so memorably three years ago. If they do that, the Prime Minister should give us a public holiday to honour their achievement,' he said. 'Retaining the title would be one of our country's greatest sporting achievements. Fans and patriots across the country deserve the chance to celebrate the talent, success and historic achievement of this amazing team. 'The Prime Minister is a football fan - we've all seen the pictures of him enjoying a kick around with his mates. 'If Wiegman's heroes deliver glory, we'll all be hoping he'll put the ball into an empty net by giving the Lionesses and the rest of us a chance to mark the occasion.' The Lionesses were on the brink of elimination by Italy when 19-year-old substitute Michelle Agyemang forced extra time, drawing the sides level with an equaliser in the sixth minute of stoppage time to cancel out Barbara Bonansea's 33rd-minute opener. Then, with another shootout minutes away, Beth Mead was brought down and Kelly stepped up to the spot, where she was initially denied by Laura Giuliani, but buried the rebound to complete England's second successive stunning comeback. Asked yesterday whether the PM will grant a Bank Holiday if England go on to win the whole tournament on Sunday, Sir Keir's spokesman said: 'I'm not aware of any plans for that.' In 2022, the previous Tory government ruled out granting an extra Bank Holiday if England won the women's Euros. This was despite pressure from Sir Keir, the then Opposition leader, for them to do so. Ahead of that year's final, the Labour leader told the Daily Mirror that a Lionesses' victory should be 'marked with a proper day of celebration'. In 2023, when England reached the World Cup final, Sir Keir posted on social media: 'It's almost 60 years since England won the World Cup. 'I'm never complacent about anything… but there should be a celebratory bank holiday if the Lionesses bring it home.' However, a report in 2022 said that the cost to the public finances of a single day bank holiday due to lost productivity is around £2.4billion.
Leader Live
28 minutes ago
- Leader Live
Cleverly: Starmer more interested in housing asylum seekers than hard workers
Sir James, a former home and foreign secretary, has returned to the Tory front bench after Kemi Badenoch reshuffled her shadow cabinet. He said he was 'furious' when the Prime Minister 'blithely' said there are 'plenty of houses' around the UK for asylum seekers. Sir Keir Starmer insisted there is 'lots of housing available' to accommodate both rising numbers of homeless people and asylum seekers when he was questioned by the Liaison Committee earlier this week. Sir James told Times Radio: 'I was furious, I genuinely couldn't believe he said this, when the prime minister was at the Liaison Committee and blithely said, 'Oh there are plenty of houses around the UK for asylum seekers'. 'When there are people telling us and telling him that they're struggling to get on the housing ladder and he dismisses their concerns in one line and once again demonstrates he is more interested in finding accommodation for asylum seekers than for hard-working young people here in the UK and that is toxic.' He said he understands the frustrations of local people when asked about demonstrations outside hotels believed to be housing asylum seekers. There has been a series of protests outside the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, since an asylum seeker was charged with sexual assault. 'I understand the desire to protest,' he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. 'There is never any excuse for rioting and we are seeing that agitators, both on the left and the right, are descending upon these communities to try and stir things up and there's never an excuse for that, but I do understand why local people are frustrated.' His new role makes him the opposition counterpart to Angela Rayner in her housing, communities and local government brief, but not in her deputy prime minister post. Ms Rayner said on Tuesday that immigration was among issues having a 'profound impact on society' as she updated Cabinet on her work on social cohesion. Sir James said that she 'makes a very good point' but that it 'rings a bit hollow when she was one of the people that took the knee during the BLM (Black Lives Matter) protest'. She and Labour have 'spent so much time seeming to be on the side of the people who don't play by the rules, who jump the queue, who abuse the system,' he said. 'And now that they're in government, she is saying, 'Oh, well, I think you know, society is fracturing', seemingly blind to the role the Labour Party have played in driving wedges between communities.' He was also asked for his view on leaving the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) after Conservative Party leader Mrs Badenoch launched a review to examine the issue and said she was 'increasingly of the view' that the UK should withdraw. Sir James would not say whether he was also 'increasingly of the view' that the UK should leave the international human rights treaty. It would 'not necessarily be a silver bullet' to leave the ECHR, he told the BBC, but said that if the review leads to it becoming party policy he would abide by that.
Spectator
28 minutes ago
- Spectator
Cabinet ministers urge Starmer to recognise Palestine
Parliament may have risen for recess but that doesn't mean that Sir Keir Starmer is getting much of a break. It transpires that the Prime Minister is facing growing calls to immediately recognise Palestine as a state with a number of Cabinet minister understood to be piling pressure on the PM alongside dozens of his backbenchers. On Tuesday, just before MPs left Westminster for summer recess, Health Secretary Wes Streeting urged Sir Keir to recognise Palestine 'while there's still a state of Palestine left to recognise'. He went on: I deplore Israel's attacks on healthcare workers as well as other innocent civilians trying to access healthcare or vital aid. These actions go well beyond legitimate self-defence and undermine the prospects for peace. I sincerely hope that the international community can come together, as the foreign secretary has been driving towards, to make sure that we see an end of this war but also that we recognise the state of Palestine while there is a state of Palestine left to recognise. Streeting isn't the only member of the Cabinet understood to have pushed the issue in meetings. As reported by the Guardian, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood and Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn have also brought it up. The Health Secretary's intervention follows that of nearly 60 Labour MPs, who sent a letter to Foreign Secretary David Lammy at the start of the month after Israeli defence minister Israel Katz proposed plans to force Gaza's into a camp in Rafah. While Israeli human rights lawyer Michael Sfard described the move was 'about population transfer to the southern tip of Gaza in preparation for deportation outside the strip', the MP group wrote: 'Though an accurate description, we believe there is a clearer one. The ethnic cleansing of Gaza.' Of course, it's not just Labour politicians who have been vocal on the Middle East. As Mr S wrote in May, more than a dozen senior Tory MPs and peers broke ranks to write to Starmer to urge the PM to immediately recognise Palestine as a state. The seven MPs and six House of Lords grandees have signed a letter that insists 'recognising Palestine would affirm our nation's commitment to upholding the principles of justice, self-determination and equal rights'. The letter was signed by several Tory moderates – including MPs Kit Malthouse, Simon Hoare and father of the house Sir Edward Leigh alongside peers such as Nicholas Soames and Hugo Swire. Mr S was rather interested to note that there were some more surprising signatories, however, with right-wing Conservative MP Sir John Hayes backing the call. Starmer hadn't changed the UK's stance after the Tory group or the Labour backbenchers reached out – but will he be swayed by his own Cabinet ministers? Stay tuned…
