British Indian former home secretary Priti Patel returned to the UK Parliament frontbench as new Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch appointed her as the new Shadow Foreign Secretary.
Dame Priti Patel, who contested the Tory leadership election to replace Rishi Sunak after the party’s general election defeat in July, will shadow Labour’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy in the Commons. The member of Parliament for Witham in Essex had called for uniting behind Badenoch after her election as Conservative leader over the weekend.
Patel said: “Honoured to be appointed as the new Shadow Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Secretary. I look forward to working with Kemi Badenoch to promote Britain, forge and strengthen our partnerships across the globe, and hold this Labour Government to account at home and abroad.”
The newly elected Leader of the Opposition finalised her top team this week for the first meeting of her Shadow Cabinet, which includes another British Indian member of Parliament – Claire Coutinho, who retains her Energy and Net Zero portfolio and is also named Shadow Equalities Minister.
Laura Trott was among the first to be named as Shadow Education Secretary to respond to the government’s announcement of a rise in university tuition fees, which has gone up from £9,250 to £9,535 a year. International student fees remain unchanged for now, as Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson told Parliament the government was having to "take the tough decisions needed to put universities on a firmer financial footing".
Among the other key Shadow portfolios include two other former Tory leadership contenders – Mel Stride as Shadow Chancellor and Robert Jenrick as Shadow Justice Secretary – and Chris Philp as Shadow Home Secretary.
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Badenoch said: “My team draws on talents from across our party, based on meritocracy and with a breadth of experience and perspective, just as I promised during the campaign.
“We will now get to work holding Labour to account and rebuilding our party based on Conservative principles and values.”
*Info: Full Shadow Cabinet