Kemi Badenoch prepares to shuffle her shadow cabinet pack

Stride is said to be facing the axe for the same reason Grant Shapps and Penny Mordaunt are to be barred from standing for the Conservatives again – because he’s an old-school Strand members’ club Tory tainted with the brush of previous administrations. Plus he doesn’t spend enough time posting outrageous statements on social media which go viral.

Patel, meanwhile, is also thought to be too linked in the public mind with Boris Johnson’s government – during which the permatousled liar ordered ministers to “form a square around the Prittster” after an inquiry found she had bullied staff. There’s also the fact that no one can remember her saying or doing anything of any note since she resigned as home secretary four years ago.

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The known knowns are that Claire Coutinho – the shadow energy secretary, as if you didn’t know – will depart to go on maternity leave later this year, while shadow solicitor general Helen Grant is to voluntarily leave.

Intriguingly, two of the names tipped for “big” jobs in Badenoch’s team are people who had been on the party’s defection watch list before Reform put a hard transfer deadline of this May’s local elections for Tory MPs to make the switch to their party.

Earlier this year tongues were wagging at Westminster that Nick Timothy – Theresa May’s former joint chief of staff, who only joined the shadow cabinet in January – might be the next to flee for Nigel Farage’s mob after an outburst about Muslims praying in public was defended much more loudly by Reform than from some of his own party.

Timothy caused controversy when he described a mass Muslim public prayer at an open iftar event in London’s Trafalgar Square as an “act of domination and division”. He said: “Perform these rituals in mosques if you wish. But they are not welcome in our public places and shared institutions.”

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Badnoch was less than fulsome in her defence of Timothy, saying he was “defending British values” rather than “abolishing jury trials”, a non-sequitur referring to David Lammy’s plans to restrict some trials to the judiciary. But now she appears to be placing greater value on X reposts than basic competence, it might be Timothy’s time to rise.

The other tipped for the top is Katie Lam, an assistant whip who last year was being spoken of as a future leader, although largely, it appeared, by Lam herself. She received rave reviews in the right wing press last autumn after freelancing and suggesting that indefinite leave to remain should be removed unless people could pass a means test.

Such was the hype around Lam that some Tories began referring to her as “Afriyie” – a reference to Adam Afriyie, a little-known Conservative who was very briefly being spoken of as the next leader several years ago before being largely forgotten to history.

Lam has, however, remained loyal to Badenoch – and is expected to be given a larger pulpit in the coming days from which to espouse her GB News-pleasing views.