Kemi Badenoch to reshuffle top team TODAY with James Cleverly return

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch will reshuffle her top team today after a stuttering start to her leadership.

TheConservative chief will bring Sir James Cleverly, her former Cabinet colleague in Rishi Sunak's government, back into the fold, it is understood. A senior Tory source told The Mirror : "[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 front bench role to take the fight to this dreadful Labour Government."

Ms Badenoch has struggled to turn around the Tories' dire poll ratings since succeeding Mr Sunak as leader of the party back in Novemberfollowing the Conservatives' worst-ever election defeat. Nigel Farage's right-wing Reform UK has since leapfrogged the Conservatives in the polls.

Speaking last month the Tory leader insisted she is "going to get better" amid criticism of her performance at the weekly sessions of Prime Minister's Questions. She told the BBC her party had "made some mistakes" and "hit rock bottom" at the 2024 General Election.

Sir James 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, he has returned to the Tory back benches as the MP for Braintree.

In 2023 The Mirror reported the former Cabinet minister joked about giving his wife a date-rape drug, just hours after announcing a crackdown on the growing epidemic of drinks spiking. The top Tory told female guests at a No10 reception that “a little bit of Rohypnol in her drink every night” was “not really illegal if it’s only a little bit”.

A spokesman for the ex-Home Secretary said at the time: "In what was always understood as a private conversation, James, the Home Secretary tackling spiking, made what was clearly meant to be an ironic joke - for which he apologises."

A list of full changes to the Conservative frontbench team will be announced on Tuesday afternoon.

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