Kemi Badenoch set to reshuffle her top team ahead of Tory conference after the summer break

TORY leader Kemi Badenoch is expected to make changes to her top team after the summer break. She is said to be preparing a reshuffle ahead of the Conservative conference in October. Kemi Badenoch is expected to make changes to her top team after the summer break Credit: Alamy Energy’s Claire Coutinho is expected to step away from the front bench before maternity leave Credit: AFP Energy’s Claire Coutinho is expected to step away from the front bench before maternity leave. Shadow Solicitor General Helen Grant has asked to stand down. Sign up for the Politics newsletter Thank you! Julia Lopez could also be moved after PM Andy Burnham scrapped the Science, Innovation and Technology department covered by her brief. Restless MPs from the 2024 intake are said to be pushing for promotion, , with Katie Lam, Harriet Cross and Aphra Brandreth among those tipped for bigger jobs. A Tory source said: “A lot of the new intake want jobs because they think the shadow cabinet are lazy and they have to pick up the slack.” There has also been speculation over the futures of shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride and shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel but neither is currently expected to be replaced. Tory sources last night played down suggestions a major overhaul is being planned and stressed some changes would simply be needed because of Labour’s machinery-of-government shake-up, Ms Coutinho’s maternity leave and Ms Grant’s decision to step down. Comment now