Farage Announces Jenrick as “Shadow Chancellor” and Braverman as “Shadow Education Secretary”
Nigel Farage has announced a Reform ‘Shadow Cabinet’ for the first time, with Robert Jenrick appointed ‘Shadow Chancellor’ and his fellow ex-Tory minister Suella Braverman made Education and Equalities Spokeswoman. The Mail has the story.
Jenrick, who defected to Reform from the Conservatives last month, has been made Reform’s ‘Shadow Chancellor’ to take on Chancellor Rachel Reeves.
Three other roles were announced this morning, with Skegness MP and former leader Richard Tice in line to be deputy prime minister if Reform wins the next election.
He would also be in charge of a ‘super department’ covering business, trade and energy.
Party Chairman Zia Yusuf, whose parents were immigrants, was unveiled as ‘Shadow Home Secretary’ with a brief to tackle legal and illegal migration, despite not being one of Reform’s eight MPs or a member of the House of Lords.
And Jenrick’s fellow Tory turncoat Suella Braverman has taken on a role as education and equalities spokeswoman – and said one of her first jobs in government would be to scrap the job of Equalities Minister.
Farage has been facing calls to sort out a proper frontbench team, now he fronts a team of eight MPs, to knock down claims he is the leader of a one-man-band.
He admitted today that Reform needed the “experience” brought to his team by former Tories.
But Conservative Chairman Kevin Hollinrake said: “After months of infighting and leaks, Nigel Farage has unveiled a front bench dominated by ex-Conservatives – a line-up that looks more like a tribute act to the old Conservative Party than a credible alternative.”
Jenrick was previously a Cabinet minister as Housing Secretary under Boris Johnson and was Conservative shadow justice secretary until he jumped ship.
But his only Treasury experience was an 18-month stint as Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, the most junior minister, under Theresa May.
Today he thanked Farage for allowing him to oppose Rachel Reeves, labelling her an economic “wrecking ball”.
He said Reform would put together “the most comprehensive plan of any political party’ to ‘fix Britain’s broken economy”.
He is not the official Shadow Chancellor, as that role is held by the Conservatives’ Mel Stride. And the same is true of his fellow frontbenchers. …
It comes as a new poll today suggested Reform’s poll lead has been cut to just five points.
YouGov had Farage’s party on 24%, down three points in a week. Labour and the Tories are unchanged on 19% and 18% respectively, with the Greens up a point on 17%.
Worth reading in full.
Stop Press: Braverman has declared a “war on woke ideology”, pledging to introduce a “patriotic curriculum” in schools and repeal the Equality Act.
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I wonder if this inadvertently shines a light on a major problem in the UK political system.
If you’re not an elected MP you can’t be a minister and lead a department.
If Farage wins Yusuf doesn’t get a seat, he can’t put who he wants at the head of a department. This is a problem.
First, it doesn’t seem very sensible to limit the pool of people from which to appoint the heads of government departments.
Second, the skill set to be a politician and the skill set to get things done in a large organisation such as a government department are really quite different.
I realise that the system is set up for civil servants to be the people who run the department and ministers just to set policy (do the political part). But we’ve seen what that leads to: a country run by bureaucrats, for bureaucrats.
There was talk of appointing a number of people to the Lords, apparently there is nothing stopping a member of the HOL being a minister.
A lifetime appointment to the HoL seems like a bit of a heavy blunt instrument for appointing someone to a temporary executive job.
There are some now.
Certainly in the US the President appoints the Cabinet and they can be anyone, though they need to be confirmed by the Senate.
The US system is a Presidential one and an executive president at that. Ours is a Parliamentary system.
True though we do have an executive branch – the government. It’s just that the government has to retain the confidence of the legislative branch, which the US President doesn’t need to do. The scope for government executive action is probably less than what the President is able to do via executive orders.
The usual solution is to appoint them to the HoL as many PMs have done. But why wouldn’t Zia win a seat normally. No reason at all.
Most people who meet him recognise his high skills, not like the near racists who post disabling things here about him, and elsewhere.
Oh dear, and so it goes on…It should be a case of ‘Unite the Right’, but all I see is division and infighting; ”The right of British politics is having its Your Party moment. Rupert Lowe MP, ousted last year from Reform UK following a spectacular falling out with Nigel Farage, has re-launched Restore Britain, turning his erstwhile ‘political movement’ into a fully fledged political party, positing itself as the purer, ‘patriotic’ alternative to the supposed sell-outs and subversives around Farage. Restore Britain is what happens when you confuse online buzz with actual electoral support. Just as a decade or so ago, the left convinced itself that Twitter was Britain, only for 14 years of Tory rule and Brexit to ensue, now Very Online rightists with more mobile data than sense are making the same mistake on X. They have memed themselves into believing that not only will Restore Britain make inroads at the next election, but also that Rupert Lowe could be our next prime minister. I know there are many people who like Lowe because they see him as another noble crusader against grooming gangs, mass migration and all the other very real ills of multicultural Britain. But… Read more »
Truth, lol;
”The situation with Reform, Restore and Advance:
Nigel hates Ben.
Ben hates Nigel.
Nigel hates Rupert.
Rupert hates Nigel.
Ben loves Rupert.
Rupert’s fans would deport Ben.” David Kurten.
Farage is likely a Norman name. Would they deport him too.
Nah, he’s white so he’s OK. The hostile racists just want the brown people out because they refuse to accept anyone who doesn’t look like them as British, and to pot with who that individual might be. This is Pete North. He’s referencing Steve Laws and his ilk: the literal far Right scumbags who are flocking to Restore; “Unfortunately for Lowe, he’s put himself in a position where he has to do deals with the devil. It’s ultimately for him as party leader to decide how he keeps the crazies away. My advice to him, which ought to be plain as day, is that you do not want the vocal support of e-celebs who dabble in holocaust denial and consort with known neo-nazis. He has to set out the precise terminology and ideology to avoid being lumped in with them – and the longer he leaves it, the worse it will get. Problem is, if he does, all he’s got is a party of ex Reform malcontents and bible bashing Ukip lunatics. Frankly, I wouldn’t like to be in his shoes. The way out is to define as a hardline civnat outfit (civnat+remigration), but if he does, the online right… Read more »
I don’t think they’ll get anywhere. Look at Alba in Scotland. Salmond had a ton of support from members who became disillusioned with the SNP, but ultimately achieved nothing. The same will be true of Restore Britain.
Reform vote share has to exceed the sum of Lib Dems and Greens, this has not happened, tactical voting will ensure a Loony Left majority, the UK is doomed.
Why “has to” and some polls say it did.
Jenrick said Reform would put together “the most comprehensive plan of any political party’ to ‘fix Britain’s broken economy”. Isn’t that what Starmer and Reeves said when they took office?
It’s all a bit reminiscent of Neil Kinnock in April 1992…..I think they’re getting a bit carried away.
Will this help Reform win Gorton?
Or the Welsh Parliament in May?
I know he’s not an MP, but there’s no mention of Dr David Bull, I seem to recall he was a big name at Reform a while ago. I always assumed he’d be Health Minister.
Suella should have been Home Secretary