Kevin Hollinrake has been picked by interim leader of the opposition Rishi Sunak as the new shadow secretary for business and trade, as the Conservative party reshuffles their frontbench ahead of an expected leadership contest.
A former junior minister at the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) since 2023, Hollinrake also served in the old Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy from 2022, until the merger of the two.
Responding to the news, he said:
“As a former businessman of 30 years experience, I’m very pleased to be appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade.
“I will always seek to serve in the national interest by providing robust, constructive challenge to the government, particularly in terms of their support for SMEs, redress to postmasters and trade deals.”
Hollinrake was re-elected as MP for the North Yorkshire seat of Thirsk and Malton with a majority of 7,550 in last week’s general election, having first been elected there in 2010.
Badenoch moves
Former trade secretary Kemi Badenoch has been moved to shadow secretary for levelling up, housing and communities in the reshuffle.
Sunak, who remains as interim Conservative Party leader until the party picks his successor, made the changes late last night (8 July).
Eleven ministers lost their seats at the general election last week (5 July), leaving Sunak with slots to fill on the opposition front bench.
Foreign secretary Lord Cameron and Conservative Party chairman Richard Holden announced they would be resigning, while Helen Whately took on the transport brief and Claire Coutinho became shadow energy minister.
Given that Sunak has announced he will be standing down as leader, any new prospective Conservative leader is likely to make changes to their front bench post-leadership election.
There has been no announcement on when the next leadership election will take place. Elections for chair of the 1922 Committee, a Conservative party group which sets the rules and the timetable, is to take place tonight.
The Telegraph reports that Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown and Bob Blackman, the two remaining members of the committee, have announced their candidacies for chair. Candidates have until 3pm today to declare.
No more levelling up
Badenoch’s new post is likely to get a rebrand, as the Labour government have announced that the phrase ‘levelling up’ will no longer be used in job titles and departments.
"The department I lead will be the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government," Angela Raynor announced on Twitter.
Housing and communities minister, Jim McMahon, told BBC Breakfast that this was a “a reshaping of the department".
Both Rayner and Starmer have met with the UK’s regional mayors today, with the new Labour PM confirming that the government will set up a “council for regions and nations” so that ministers can meet frequently with devolved administrations.