Safe to say, the last bank holiday of summer was rather less relaxing than Kemi’s team might have hoped. Anticipating the media frenzy that was going to surround Andy Burnham’s first day in parliament – now fueled further by Sir Keir Starmer’s resignation from Holborn and St Pancras – the Tory leader opted for the unassuming last moments of August to go in for the kill and set the Conservative agenda for the season ahead. 

The headline news is that Mel Stride has been sacked as shadow chancellor and is being replaced by Andrew Griffith. Griffith, the MP for Arundel and South Downs, is a loyal ally to Badenoch and was one of her first backbenchers to support her leadership bid in 2024. He has an impressive CV – having served as CFO and COO of Sky and chairman of Just Eat.

In an exclusive interview with Mace, Andrew said: “I had a great innings at Sky, it had gone from three million to 30 million viewers, its value had gone from roughly £2 billion to £48 billion and the organisation had gone from UK to pan-European. I’d had a seat at the table in all those major decisions.”

A senior figure in the Conservative Party said: “I was surprised that Mel got moved. But from a point of dynamism and radicalism, Andrew Griffith is far more in line with Kemi’s thinking than Mel.” 

On the other hand, Tom Tugendhat has been one of the more surprising promotions to Kemi’s cabinet. A moderate, remainer, and supporter of remaining in the ECHR, he does not see eye to eye with the Conservative leader on many points. However, he will be replacing Priti Patel as shadow foreign secretary. Patel is reported to be taking on an ‘international role’ for the Conservatives. 

Mark Leftly, Head of Public Affairs at Sodali & Co, said: “Politics is a funny thing – you can really see the confidence course through the veins of party leaders well ahead of them gaining the trust of the electorate. 

“The Conservatives have not been revived yet, but the reshuffle shows that Kemi Badenoch feels she has hit on a formula that will bring her party back to life. She is now comfortable in her role, which is why she does not feel threatened by appointing big beasts like Griffith and Tugendhat in such senior positions.”  

Another key player who has been brought into the fold is Katie Lam who has been promoted to shadow housing and communities minister. Known as ‘a darling of the Tory right’ and having been described as ‘competent and hardworking’, she was only elected in 2024. She is a former special advisor to Johnson and worked on Sunak’s first leadership bid. In her pre-political life she worked at the PR company Portland Communications and the AI company Faculty. 

Among those breathing a sigh of relief will be Chris Philp, described by senior figures as “dynamic” and “very good at grabbing the news agenda”, who will remain as shadow home secretary. James Cartlidge, meanwhile, is also staying put as shadow defence secretary.  

However, according to a senior party source there are apparently “no hard feelings” regarding the reshuffle. A veteran MP said: “I think [Priti Patel] is looking forward to having more freedom on the backbenchers and having this international role. I think she is very happy about where she is. Both Mel and Priti are on fine terms with Kemi, there is no bad blood between them at all” 

The source added: “A lot of [the reshuffle] is just housekeeping because the government is being reorganised.” 

Thomas Borwick, Director of the College Green Group, said:  “Badenoch has used the reshuffle to put in place what she sees as her strongest team ahead of this year’s Conservative Party Conference, with big wins for rising stars including Claire Coutinho and Katie Lam. 

“The next few months will be about ensuring her rising personal popularity translates into broader support for the party, as polling shows the Conservatives still have work to do to overtake Labour and Reform.  

“Ultimately, Kemi will hope the reshuffle ensures the Conservatives are election-ready – galvanising donors, voters and the volunteers should Burnham decide to go to the polls as fiscal constraints begin to tighten once again.     

“There are some wonderful hard workers that have been rotated round like Nigel Huddleston who has worked tirelessly at DCMS.” 

Other changes of note include Andrew Bowie who will take up Claire Coutinho’s previous role as energy secretary while she is on maternity leave. Furthermore, the shadow health secretary Stuart Andrew has quit the front bench to “focus on constituency work”. Damian Hinds, MP for East Hampshire, has assumed his brief.  

Kemi’s reshuffle has been described by senior sources as “the long game”, with many in her party happy with the “sharpening” of her team, especially with the appointment of Griffiths. Speaking to Mace Andrew once said that his reason for entering politics was that “the Conservative Party started doing so many unconservative things that in 2019 I felt I had to get elected and change it. Let’s just say there is  more still to do!”