Kemi Badenoch has been accused of “shuffling the deckchairs on the Titanic” after she axed two Tory big beasts as she freshened up her top team.

The Conservative leader sacked former cabinet ministers Priti Patel and Mel Stride in the second reshuffle of her leadership.

Andrew Griffith – one of the architects of Liz Truss’s disastrous mini-Budget – replaced Stride as shadow chancellor, while Tom Tugendhat takes over from Patel as shadow foreign secretary.

Tory rising star Katie Lam replaces James Cleverly – who is bidding to be the party’s London mayoral candidate – as shadow housing secretary.

Another member of the Conservatives’ 2024 intake, Rebecca Paul, has been appointed shadow culture secretary.

Former cabinet minister Damian Hinds returns to the Tory frontbench as shadow health secretary, taking over from the sacked Stuart Andrew.

Other changes include Harriet Cross becoming shadow Scottish secretary.

She takes over from Andrew Bowie, who is replacing Claire Coutinho as shadow energy secretary.

Coutinho, who is currently on maternity leave, becomes shadow business secretary.

A Reform UK spokesman said: “Kemi is simply moving the deckchairs around the titanic with this reshuffle.

“She has promoted ardent supporters of net zero and the ECHR into senior positions, despite saying she wouldn’t .

“The Conservatives haven’t learned a thing from their failures in office.”

Labour chair Bridget Phillipson said: “Kemi Badenoch’s Conservatives have learnt nothing since they were kicked out of office by the British people.

“Promoting a key architect of Liz Truss’s disastrous mini Budget tells you all you need to know about Badenoch’s complete lack of judgement.

“The Tories’ top team is crammed full of the same vandals who hammered family finances and left our public services crumbling. No wonder they’ve made no progress in the last two years.”

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