Kemi Badenoch: Saffron Walden's MP keeps her seat in Rishi Sunak's Cabinet as International Trade Secretary

Saffron Walden’s MP Kemi Badenoch has retained her Cabinet seat in Rishi Sunak’s new Government.

The Prime Minister has reappointed the 42-year-old as Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade. She also becomes minister for women and equalities.

The Conservative, first elected in 2017, was given the international trade brief by Mr Sunak’s short-lived predecessor Liz Truss.

She previously served as minister of state for local government, faith and communities and as minister of state for equalities from 2021 to 2022 – when Ms Truss was her boss as minister for women and equalities.

During the summer she stood against both Mr Sunak and Ms Truss to succeed Boris Johnson as the Tory party leader and was eliminated in the fourth round of voting.

She was one of the ministers who resigned en masse and precipitated Mr Johnson’s departure in the wake of Partygate and the Chris Pincher scandal.

She did not publicly endorse another candidate in that first contest, won by Ms Truss, but backed Mr Sunak against Mr Johnson before the latest winner was announced.

She said on Twitter: “The party needs a unifying figure to do what’s right for the UK. At this moment, I believe that person is Rishi.

"I’m a fan of Boris, but his return, given all that’s happened, would not bring people together. We all need to set aside our differences and work for the greater good."

She sat next to Mr Sunak on the Conservative front bench in the House of Commons during his first Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday.

Mrs Badenoch, a computer systems engineering graduate from Wimbledon in south-west London, spent part of her childhood in the USA and in Lagos, Nigeria. She worked as a software engineer and systems analyst before becoming an associate director at Coutts and director of The Spectator magazine.

The married mother of three was a member of the London Assembly before succeeding Sir Alan Haselhurst, now life peer Baron Haselhurst of Saffron Walden, as Uttlesford's MP in 2017.

Robert Halfon, MP for Harlow since 2010, picked up a new role in Rishi Sunak's government, as Minister of State at the Department of Education under Gillian Keegan.

He relinquishes his role as chair of the Education Select Committee, a position he had held since July 2017.

This is Mr Halfon's second ministerial position, having served 11 months as skills minister from July 2016 to June 2017.