Badenoch brings the newbies into her team

It is just over a fortnight since the Tory leadership result and Kemi Badenoch is now putting the final touches to her first front bench team. With only 121 Tory MPs to choose from, she has worked to avoid a Truss-style scenario by promoting both loyalists and colleagues who backed other candidates. Thus, Mel Stride, her rival who backed James Cleverly, is the new Shadow Chancellor. Robert Jenrick was given the Justice brief while his ally Neil O’Brien is deputising at Education.

Having reshuffled the shadow cabinet within 72 hours of being elected, Badenoch took her time to carefully fill more junior slots in parliament. But now the names of the new Whips’ Office can be revealed. Nine of the 26 Tories elected for the first time in July have been given posts as junior whips – a recognition of the need to blood new talent quickly. Those charged with managing party and parliamentary business are: Harriet Cross, Ashley Fox, Rebecca Smith, Katie Lam, Ben Obese-Jecty, Rebecca Paul, Andrew Snowden, Greg Stafford and Nick Timothy.