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With the shadow cabinet reshuffle completed, Kemi Badenoch is now turning her attention to the junior ranks. One of the initial complaints of her leadership was that she was insufficiently connected to other parts of the parliamentary party. The appointment of John Glen, a respected long-serving former minister, as her parliamentary private secretary (PPS) has helped rectify this. But now Badenoch has gone further, appointing a second PPS in the form of a much younger Member from the 2024 intake: Jack Rankin. Energetic and robust, he is viewed as a staunch right-winger and regular attendee at meetings of the 92 Group. There is a touch of Ian Gow about him: the gossipy right-wing Thatcher aide known as ‘supergrass’ for his knowledge about his colleagues.
Rankin’s appointment is interesting for three reasons. First, he was a prominent backer of Robert Jenrick during the last Tory leadership campaign. That Badenoch feels able to promote him now speaks to the confidence that she has in her mastery of the parliamentary party. Second, that she is willing to recognise talents from different strands of the party who demonstrate their worth, regardless of past allegiances. Third, Rankin is a very online MP, using the derisory term ‘Yookay’ in a recent debate on citizenship. His recognition by the leadership suggests Badenoch is comfortable with having her colleagues engage in punchy debates around integration and immigration. One senior party source puts it thus: ‘Jack has been a vital part of our work on immigration, citizenship and the threat of radical Islam, and is clearly a future star of the party.’
