The new Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, has appointed her first shadow cabinet, with Andrew Griffith to become her shadow business and trade secretary.
Griffith has already tweeted that he is “pleased” to have taken the role, saying “Britain’s businesses need a government that has their backs, not one that brings them down”.
“Rather than cutting red tape, this government has decided to burden businesses and treat them like cash cows.”
The shadow cabinet met for the first time this morning.
Key appointments
Other significant appointments for trade include:
· Mel Stride as shadow chancellor
· Dame Priti Patel as shadow foreign secretary
· James Cartlidge as shadow defence minister
· Victoria Atkins as shadow environment, food and rural affairs minister
· Claire Coutinho as shadow energy security and net zero minister
· Gareth Bacon as shadow transport minister
· Alan Mak as shadow science, innovation and technology minister
Robert Jenrick, who came second behind Badenoch in the leadership race, will be the new shadow justice minister while Chris Philp becomes shadow home secretary.
There is no role for Tom Tugendhat, another defeated candidate in the race, while third-placed James Cleverley had already announced that he was not considering a front bench role.
Meritocracy
In a statement accompanying the confirmed list of appointments, Badenoch said:
“I am delighted to have appointed my shadow cabinet, which draws on the talents of people from across the Conservative Party, based on meritocracy and with a breadth of experience and perspective, just as I promised during the campaign.”
She says the party will now “get to work holding Labour to account”.
Griffith in government
Griffith became MP for Arundel and South Downs in 2019, having previously worked as a senior executive in the media industry, including at Sky.
He served in multiple roles in government when the Conservatives were in power, including a brief stint as junior exports minister in 2022. Other significant roles included being minister for science, research and innovation, economic secretary to the Treasury, and director of the Number 10 Policy Unit.
Before becoming an MP, he also served as Boris Johnson’s chief business advisor.
Track record
Griffith was one of the first public backers of Badenoch in the summer’s leadership contest.
According to the Parliament tracking website TheyWorkForYou, he has consistently voted against higher taxes on banks, in favour of stronger tax incentives for companies to invest and has generally voted against imported goods needing to meet domestic standards.
He has a strong record of voting with the party line.
Relationship building
As was the case when Labour was in opposition, the Chartered Institute of Export & International Trade will engage with the Conservative shadow cabinet on key trade policy issues, says the charity’s UK public affairs lead Grace Thompson.
“Due to Griffith having already served as exports minister when the Conservatives were in power, we are pleased to have already engaged with him in the past regarding issues of key relevance to our members.
“With the new leader of the opposition also a former business and trade secretary, we will look to build on our existing relationships and form new ones as we continue our engagement with the Conservative Party.
“We will continue to represent our members and the wider trader community in our interactions with politicians from all sides of the House, ensuring that the current and potential future governments develop and implement policies that support businesses to trade internationally.”
Thompson and the Chartered Institute’s director general, Marco Forgione, first met with Griffith in 2022, with the then-exports minister saying that “together, we share a passion for getting more businesses exporting”.
