Kemi Badenoch’s appoints architect of Liz Truss’ disastrous mini-budget as new shadow chancellor
Badenoch has appointed Andrew Griffith, who backed Truss’ plan for £45 billion in unfunded tax cuts
Kemi Badenoch has appointed Andrew Griffith to replace Mel Stride as shadow chancellor as part of her frontbench reshuffle.
As a Treasury minister under Liz Truss’ premiership, Griffith played a key role in her disastrous mini budget, which sparked economic chaos with its £45 billion in unfunded tax cuts.
In the days after the September 2022 mini-budget, the value of the pound dropped to a record low, and market panic caused government borrowing costs and mortgage interest rates to surge.
At the time, Griffith took to the airwaves to defend Truss’ mini-budget, stating: “We think they’re the right plans because those plans make our economy competitive.”
He added: “What we politicians are responsible for is making the decisions that will drive continued growth.”
In the interview, he also tried to attribute the economic fallout caused by Truss’ budget to Putin’s war in Ukraine, saying that in “every major economy you’re seeing interest rates going up”.
In a recent speech at Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), a British spinoff of the Maga-linked conference in the US, Griffith attacked above-inflation increases in the minimum wage, and called for lower taxes and less regulation.
Announcing his appointment on X, Griffith, who was previously the shadow business and trade secretary, said he was “honoured” to become shadow chancellor and vowed to create an “economic revolution”.
He said: “We will deliver lower, simpler taxes, get Britain drilling again to bring down energy costs, slash the red tape holding Britain back, and scrap the job-killing measures in Labour’s (Un)Employment Rights Act.”
Griffith’s appointment indicates that Badenoch is looking to move away from Stride’s focus on fiscal credibility and cautiousness towards Truss’ aggressive tax-cutting strategy.
In a post on X, Truss celebrated Griffith’s appointment, stating: “Congratulations to Andrew Griffith on becoming Shadow Chancellor. The economic establishment of the last three decades has failed Britain.
“They must be taken on.”
Chief Treasury secretary, Emma Reynolds, said: “The new shadow chancellor backed Liz Truss to be PM and he was a Treasury minister during the Tories’ disastrous 2022 mini-Budget, which left families paying the price. Same old Tories, same old economic policies.”
Labour MP David Pinto-Duschinsky reacted to Griffith’s appointment on X, criticising his economic record.
He wrote: “Hi @griffitha – you seem to have left out the bit where you drove the economy off a cliff, caused a market meltdown and sent interest rates soaring as a member of Liz Truss’ Treasury team. Have you apologised yet to the millions you made poorer and the businesses you destroyed?”.
As part of the reshuffle, Badenoch has also appointed Tom Tugendhat to replace Priti Patel as shadow foreign secretary.
Meanwhile, James Cleverly has stepped down from his role as shadow housing secretary to focus on running for mayor of London in 2028.
Katie Lam will replace Cleverly as shadow housing secretary. Lam recently made controversial comments stating that many legally settled people should be deported to make the UK more “culturally coherent”.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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