Shadow health minister quits Badenoch's top team

News imageUK Parliament Stuart Andrew, the Conservative MP for Daventry posing for his official Parliament picture. He is looking directly at the camera and smiling. He is wearing a blue suit jacket with a pale blue shirt underneath and a blue, red and white striped tie.UK Parliament
Stuart Andrew was appointed to Kemi Badenoch's shadow cabinet in July 2025

The shadow health secretary Stuart Andrew has quit Kemi Badenoch's Conservative frontbench team in a week that has seen two other high-profile politicians - Dame Priti Patel and Sir James Cleverley - also resign from the shadow cabinet.

Andrew, MP for Daventry in Northamptonshire, announced the news on X and said he would focus on constituency work.

He held ministerial posts between 2017 and 2024 and became shadow secretary of state for health and social care in July 2025.

"It has been a privilege to serve in numerous roles... and I am so grateful for all the support I have received personally from colleagues, my shadow health team and my constituency team," he said.

His announcement comes days after Sir James, Conservative MP for Braintree in Essex, announced he would be resigning his housing brief in the shadow cabinet in order to run for London mayor.

Dame Priti, shadow foreign secretary and Conservative MP for Witham, also in Essex, said she would be leaving the frontbenches to take up a new role focused on strengthening "links with sister parties and centre right movements around the world".

She will be replaced by Tom Tugendhat who will return to a senior role for the first time since he came in fourth in the 2024 Tory leadership election, which was won by Badenoch.

A Conservative reshuffle had been expected in the coming weeks, because of the shadow energy secretary Claire Coutinho's upcoming maternity leave.

News imageCarroll Weston/BBC Stuart Andrew, Conservative MP for Daventry standing inside an election hall looking directly at the camera and smiling. He is wearing a blue blazer with a white shirt underneath and blue patterned tie. On his blazer, he has a blue Conservative Party rosette on.Carroll Weston/BBC
Stuart Andrew was elected as MP for Daventry in the 2024 general election, having represented Pudsey in West Yorkshire for 14 years

Andrew represented Pudsey in West Yorkshire from 2010 until the constituency was abolished prior to the July 2024 election.

During his time in government he held junior ministerial posts at the Department for Culture, Media & Sport; Department for Business & Trade; Department for International Trade; HM Household; Ministry of Justice; Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities; Ministry of Defence, the Wales Office and also in the Whips Office.

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In opposition, he served as the Conservatives' chief whip between July 2024 and November 2024, and was the shadow secretary of state for culture, media and sport from November 2024 to July 2025.

He said: "I would also like to thank all those working across the NHS and social care for their help and co-operation in my most recent role.

"I am proud of the role I played in the months immediately after the general election in ensuring we hit the ground running in opposition, and I wish Kemi, my successor and the whole shadow cabinet every success for the future.

"I now look forward to continuing to work hard on behalf of all my constituents in the wonderful Daventry constituency."

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