Kemi Badenoch has kicked off a reshuffle of her shadow cabinet, with Sir James Cleverly set to return to the Conservative Party front bench.
The Tory leader is bringing her former leadership rival back to the frontline to build party unity and bolster the party’s credibility.
A senior Tory source said Sir James would help “take the fight to this dreadful Labour government”.
The source confirmed Ms Badenoch will make a series of changes to her top team on Tuesday, adding that they “reflect the next stage of the party’s policy renewal programme and underline the unity of the party under new leadership”.
Ex-foreign secretary Sir James is the most high profile name preparing for a return to the front bench, with questions about whether other former ministers including Suella Braverman will be called up by Ms Badenoch.
Elsewhere, it has been reported that shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick has been gunning for Sir Mel Stride’s job as shadow chancellor.
The shadow cabinet reshuffle comes just eight months after Ms Badenoch was elected leader by Tory members and is an admission the party has been underperforming.
Amid the continued rise of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, Ms Badenoch’s party has been unable to grab the agenda and get a clear message across.
Only a handful of her shadow cabinet ministers have been prominent in the public eye since joining the Tory top team, including Mr Jenrick, who has made a series of eye-catching videos to expose social problems in the UK.
After May’s disastrous local election results, as well as months of dire showings in the polls, Ms Badenoch hopes the reshuffle will shore up her authority ahead of Tory conference in October.
Talk of a potential leadership challenge has been mounting, with Guto Harri, who worked for Boris Johnson during his time in No 10, warning recently that a bid to replace her was “inevitable”.
This is a breaking news story, more to follow…
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