James Cleverly Declines Frontbench Position Under Incoming Tory Leader

Shadow home secretary James Cleverly has announced his decision not to accept a frontbench role from the next leader of the Conservative Party, whose identity will be revealed on Saturday. The victorious candidate – either Kemi Badenoch or Robert Jenrick – is anticipated to conduct an immediate reshuffle of the Tory frontbench team. However, Cleverly informed the Financial Times (FT) that he intends to return to the backbenches rather than serve in the shadow cabinet of either contender. Following the Conservative conference, Cleverly briefly emerged as the leading contender in the contest to succeed Rishi Sunak, but was unexpectedly eliminated in the final ballot of Members of Parliament. He conveyed to the FT that he felt “liberated” after 16 years on the political front line and was now “not particularly in the mood to be boxed back into a narrow band again”. Cleverly gained significant momentum among leadership candidates after delivering a well-received speech at the Conservative conference early last month, where he advocated for the party to be “more normal” and to present its policies “with a smile”. Nevertheless, his support unexpectedly declined in the last round of MPs’ voting. Numerous theories were put forward to explain this outcome, including suggestions that some of his supporters had attempted to manipulate the desired final line-up. The former home and foreign secretary received 37 votes, leading to his elimination. Badenoch garnered 42 votes and Jenrick 41. Gasps were heard in the Commons committee room when the result was announced. Cleverly confessed to the FT that the outcome was a “bit of a punch to the gut”, noting his repeated warnings to his backers that “Kremlinology is a fool’s game” – yet he “lost track” of the number of supporters who inquired about his preferred opponent. “I’d worried that that might happen,” he stated, adding: “I kept saying there aren’t many votes to play with… it doesn’t take very many people to really distort outcomes.” He refused to disclose which of the final two candidates he had supported. When Badenoch and Jenrick topped the MPs’ poll, both indicated their intention to offer him a position in their shadow cabinet if they became leader. Badenoch commented that Cleverly’s campaign had been “full of energy, ideas and optimism”, and she looked forward to “continuing to work with him”. Jenrick communicated to Cleverly that the party “needs you in its top team in the years ahead”, further stating that he would be “delighted for him to serve in the shadow cabinet should he want to do so”. Jenrick has highlighted withdrawal from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) as a central component of his leadership platform, stating that all Conservative Members of Parliament would be required to endorse the policy – an idea that Cleverly has rejected. However, a period on the backbenches is not expected to be permanent, and Cleverly has indicated openness to a future attempt to become leader of the Conservative Party, asserting that he would not “rule anything in or anything out”. He also did not dismiss the prospect of a bid to become mayor of London in 2028, adding: “We do need to fight back in London. We need to fight back in big, big, big chunks of the country.” Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.