Inside Kemi Badenoch’s first shadow cabinet

At her first shadow cabinet as Tory leader, Kemi Badenoch walked into the room and declared that there were ‘still too many people’. Various advisers hastily left. It was an indication of how she plans to do things differently. Even the invitation list for politicians has been slimmed down – the shadow attorney will not attend, and some roles have been axed, such as deputy leader. No ‘readout’ of discussion topics was emailed to hacks afterwards to update the lobby on what happened.

The reason? Badenoch wants shadow cabinet meetings to be a safe space for political debate. She herself has been stung by leaks from these meetings in the past. Her decision to ‘rip into’ Rishi Sunak over mistakes in the Tory campaign in the first shadow cabinet after the election quickly leaked to the press.