Full list of Nigel Farage’s new Reform UK cabinet | Politics | News
Farage dishes out four top shadow roles (Image: Getty)
Reform UK has unveiled a ‘shadow cabinet’ of Tory defectors and longstanding loyalists to take the fight to Labour. Led by former Cabinet ministers, city financiers and Westminsters veterans, Nigel Farage’s top team is shaping up.
Here is who has been given seats around Reform’s top table – and what they will be fighting for.
Robert Jenrick – Shadow Chancellor
The former Conservative MP, Mr Jenrick was unveiled as Reform UK’s “shadow chancellor” just weeks after he jumped ship. Having served under four Conservative prime ministers, he’ll bring a wealth of experience to the role, one he’s rumoured to have been angling for since his move to the party in January this year.
But he could lock horns with one of his new colleagues, Zia Yusuf, the long-standing Reform member who repeatedly said he himself wanted to speak up for the party’s economic policies. Mr Jenrick, 44, is the current MP for Newark in the West Midlands, and just hours prior to his defection made headlines for being sacked from his role as Tory shadow justice minister after he apparently left a defection speech on an office printer.
A former solicitor, he served in May, Johnson, Truss and Sunak ministries in an assortment of roles. He resigned from the Sunak government over disagreements about immigration policy, and went on to unsuccessfully challenge Kemi Badenoch for the leadership in 2024.
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Zia Yusuf – Shadow Home Secretary
A long time supporter of Reform and the party’s current head of policy, Zia Yusuf has taken over as Farage’s “shadow home secretary”. He’ll be leading the charge on some of the core areas of the party’s policy platform, namely crime and immigration. A former banker, Mr Yusuf, 39, went on to found a luxury concierge company which he sold for millions in 2023.
In the lead up to the 2024 general election he quickly became the party’s largest donor, before a rocky relationship with one of the party’s new (and now former) MPs, Rupert Lowe. He later resigned as Chairman of the party hours after Reform MP Sarah Pochin called for a ban on the burqa, which was not party policy.
Two days later he reversed his decision to resign after an intervention by Mr Farage. A close ally of the party’s leader, he is a confidant of Mr Farage and will now be holding the reigns on shaping policy in two of their most important areas of focus.
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Braverman and Jenrick bag shadow roles (Image: Getty)
Suella Braverman – Shadow Education Secretary
Another Tory defector, Suella Braverman made the move shortly after her colleague Robert Jenrick, and now takes up the post as “shadow education, skills and equalities”. Ms Braverman, 45, is the current MP for Fareham and Waterlooville and has served in five conservative governments, most noticeable as home secretary under Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak.
Having once chaired the European Research Group within the Conservative Party, Ms Braverman is a devout Brexiteer and was rumoured to be considering making the jump to Reform for months on end. She previously resigned from Theresa May’s government over objections to the Brexit withdrawal agreement.
The right wing firebrand will now lead Reforms culture wars fights, an area she has been vocal on in the past. She will also be responsible for education policy, and plans to try and get more people into work.
Yusuf bags shadow home secretary role (Image: Getty)
Richard Tice – Business, Trade and Energy Secretary
Currently deputy leader of the party and also one of its largest financial backers, Richard Tice takes over as the party’s “shadow business, energy and industry secretary”. Another long-time backer of Reform, Mr Tice, 61, is the MP for Boston and Skegness, and was once a member of European Parliament.
Another Brexiteer, Mr Tice was the co-founder of the Leave Means Leave campaign during the EU referendum. A wealthy businessman, he has extensive experience in the property markets, and will now focus on what the parties offer to business and the city will be.
He’ll also be taking the lead on the party’s answer to Net Zero – an area they have campaigned on considerably – as well as how they intend to reduce the cost of energy for British households.
