Stuart Andrew (Conservative, Daventry) has been named as Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media & Sport in His Majesty’s Official Opposition. Following the appointment of Kemi Badenoch (Conservative, North West Essex) as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Conservative Party on Saturday, she named the former culture minister in her shadow cabinet earlier today, replacing Julia Lopez (Conservative, Hornchurch & Upminster), who had held the role since the General Election.
Andrew, who served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Sport, Gambling & Civil Society before the General Election, has previous experience within the Department of Culture, Media & Sport, serving in his former role from the beginning of Liz Truss’ premiership in September 2022 continuously until July this year. Following the election, he served as Opposition Chief Whip, before moving back to lead the Opposition’s Culture representation in Badenoch’s shadow cabinet. He also made headlines in 2022 for defying FIFA ruling at the Qatar World Cup, wearing a One Love rainbow armband when the England football team had been banned from doing so.
Andrew joins two other MPs – Louie French (Conservative, Old Bexley & Sidcup) and Dr Luke Evans (Conservative, Hinckley and Bosworth) in shadowing the Department of Culture, Media & Sport, with both French and Evans serving as Shadow Parliamentary Under Secretaries to the department. These were appointed prior to Kemi Badenoch’s election as Leader of the Opposition, so it is currently unclear whether they will retain their roles in the coming days and weeks.
However, Andrew is not the only member of Badenoch’s new team to have experience in the Culture, Media & Sport department. Helen Whately (Conservative, Faversham & Mid Kent), who has been appointed Shadow Work & Pensions Secretary, served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Arts, Heritage & Tourism for five months in Boris Johnson’s administration.
Similarly, Nigel Huddleston (Conservative, Droitwich & Evesham), former Under-Secretary of State for Sport, Tourism, Heritage & Civil Society from February 2020 until September 2022, has been made one of the two Chairmen of the Conservative Party, and Mims Davies (Conservative, East Grinstead & Uckfield) who wasUnder-Secretary of State for Sport, Civil Society & Loneliness from November 2018 until July 2019, now holds the shadow briefs for both Women and Wales. Davies has also recently been appointed to the Culture, Media & Sport Select Committee.
However, there has been no senior role for the newly-replaced Julia Lopez, who finds herself returning to the backbenches after her time in both the Department of Culture, Media & Sport, and Sunak’s shadow cabinet. Whether she will be offered a junior ministerial position is still unclear, but represents a rapid fall from July, going from second most senior minister in the department, to returning to the backbenches, should she not be offered a portfolio in the coming days.
These appointments comes amid a near-complete reshuffle of the Conservative frontbench team since Badenoch’s victory over Robert Jenrick (Conservative, Newark), which has seen several of her leadership rivals take top jobs, including Jenrick himself as Shadow Justice Secretary, Dame Priti Patel (Conservative, Witham) as Shadow Foreign Secretary and Mel Stride (Conservative, Central Devon) as Shadow Chancellor. Her appointments were likely complicated, however, with several well-known figures counting themselves out, including former Home Secretary James Cleverly (Conservative, Braintree) and former Chancellor Jeremy Hunt (Conservative, Godalming & Ash).
The appointment of Badenoch’s shadow cabinet and return of Andrew to the representation of Culture, Media & Sport in Parliament are the opening moves of the new Conservative leader, aiming to rebuild the party and bring its many factions together as they begin their time in Opposition. Whether Andrew will be effective against the new ministerial team, and new Secretary of State Lisa Nandy (Labour, Wigan) is yet to be seen, but with questions to her ministerial team next scheduled for November 28th, he has plenty of time to embed himself in the role and prepare to face Nandy and her team at the despatch box.
The full list of shadow cabinet ministers can be found here
