FORMER minister Dame Priti Patel has left the Conservative shadow cabinet as party leader Kemi Badenoch reshuffled her front bench, while Claire Coutinho has moved from shadow energy secretary to shadow business secretary.
Dame Priti, who had served as shadow foreign secretary since 2024, will take on an international role for the party.
Former security minister Tom Tugendhat will replace her as shadow foreign secretary.
Coutinho, meanwhile, was appointed shadow business secretary after Andrew Griffith was promoted to shadow chancellor, replacing Sir Mel Stride.
She will also serve as Griffith’s deputy in the Tories’ new economic team.
Coutinho is currently on maternity leave, so former minister Julia Lopez will cover the business brief until her return, expected around the new year.
The changes come ahead of the Conservative Party conference in October as Badenoch reshapes her senior team.
Dame Priti said she would use her new role to strengthen links with “fellow conservatives and centre-right parties around the world”.
“It has been an honour to lead the party’s foreign affairs team in parliament over the last two years,” she said, adding that she was “pleased to continue supporting Kemi and the Conservative Party” in her new role. She remains the MP for Witham in Essex.
Tugendhat’s return to the front bench brings him back into a senior role after he finished fourth in the Tory leadership contest two years ago.
A former British Army officer and security minister, Tugendhat has held several senior positions relating to foreign affairs and security. He also chaired the Foreign Affairs Select Committee for five years.
Dame Priti Patel Henry Nicholls/Getty Images
Coutinho’s move places her at the centre of the Tory economic team. She had been shadow energy secretary and has been a prominent critic of Labour’s energy policies.
Her new brief will cover business, while Griffith takes charge of the wider economic portfolio as shadow chancellor.
Stride, who had served as shadow chancellor for almost two years, described his time on the front bench as “a great honour” and said he was proud of the work to rebuild the party’s economic credibility.
He said he would continue to contribute from the back benches and help “build and amplify our vision for Britain”. The reshuffle follows several changes to Badenoch’s front bench in recent days.
Sir James Cleverly has left the shadow cabinet to prepare for a campaign to become the Tory candidate for London mayor in the 2028 election. He has not yet secured the party’s nomination and remains MP for Braintree. Stuart Andrew has also returned to the back benches after stepping down as shadow health secretary.
According to reports, the party is also setting up a new Conservative Economic Unit, which will include former party chairman Richard Fuller and focus on fiscal discipline and savings.
