New Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has made the first appointments to her senior team ahead of a new shadow cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
The BBC understands Badenock has appointed MPs Nigel Huddleston and Lord Dominic Johnson as Conservative Party co-chairs.
The pair succeed Richard Fuller, who was appointed interim chairman by Rishi Sunak following the party’s election defeat in July.
This follows the appointment of Castle Point MP Dame Rebecca Harris as Conservative Whip Sunday night.
Badenock was elected leader of the Conservative Party on Saturday, defeating Robert Jenrick.
Hudson, the MP for Droitwich and Evesham in the West Midlands, previously served as a minister under Badennock when he was business secretary. He most recently served as Finance Minister.
Lord Johnson was appointed to the House of Lords during Liz Truss’s brief tenure as Prime Minister and later served as Trade Minister under Badenock. He served as deputy deputy leader of the party under Theresa May from 2016 to 2019 and has donated more than £275,000 to the Conservative Party over the past decade.
In 2007, he co-founded investment firm Somerset Capital Management with former Conservative MP and minister Jacob Rees-Mogg.
A formal announcement of the full shadow cabinet is expected ahead of its first meeting on Tuesday.
Badenock is expected to hand the job to her leadership rival Jenrick after she said in her victory speech that Badenoch “will play a key role in the future of our party for many years to come”.
She said on Sunday she would draw people from across the party spectrum into her team.
She said she wanted a “merit-led shadow cabinet that brings the different areas of experience, geographical diversity, backgrounds, work experience and professional experience that MPs have before they come” [into parliament]”.
The current Labor government has 120 ministers, which means the Conservatives may struggle to hold all positions as they only have 121 MPs.
Former home secretary and failed leadership candidate James Cleverley last week ruled out a shadow cabinet role. told the Financial Times He has been “liberated” from 16 years on the political front and is now “reluctant to be confined to a narrow range again”.
Former environment secretary Steve Barclay confirmed he will also return to the backbench at the weekend.
