British opposition leader Rishi Sunak announced his shadow cabinet on Monday, with some senior ministers reprising their previous roles while former Foreign Secretary David Cameron resigned.
Andrew Mitchell will handle the foreign policy brief in the interim shadow cabinet, which is a team of senior spokespeople selected by the opposition party leader to mirror the government cabinet.
The Conservative Party suffered a historic election defeat last week, with a record number of cabinet ministers, including former Defence Secretary Grant Shapps, losing their seats.
In his resignation speech, former Prime Minister Sunak took responsibility for the party’s election loss, while Labour Party’s Keir Starmer became the new leader of the country on Friday.
Richard Holden, who narrowly retained his seat by just 20 votes, stepped down as Conservative Party Chairman. In his resignation letter to Sunak, he called for a thorough review of the General Election campaign, stating, “While I will obviously feed into that, this would best take place with a new set of eyes to help provide the clearest view.”
The shadow cabinet includes James Cleverly continuing to hold the home office brief, while James Cartlidge will handle defence matters, according to the party’s statement.
“The Conservative Party has had a difficult election, and it is important that we regroup and reflect on these results,” new interim Chairman Richard Fuller said in the statement. “We should also challenge ourselves candidly and deeply on the strengths of the Conservative Party across the country and outline where improvements can be made.”
Chris Philp will be Shadow Leader of the House of Commons, taking over from Penny Mordaunt, one of the senior lawmakers who lost their seats. Former business minister Kemi Badenoch has been given the “levelling up” brief.
Jeremy Hunt continues with the finance brief, while former Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden becomes Deputy Leader of the Opposition.
