by Gazette Reporter
Charlie Dewhirst MP has been appointed Shadow Minister for the Union as part of a reshuffle of the Conservative frontbench.
Mr Dewhirst, who is MP for Bridlington and The Wolds, will serve in the shadow cabinet office and shadow Northern Ireland office, as well as an opposition whip following changes made by Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch.
The appointment follows a wider party reshuffle which saw Andrew Griffith replace Mel Stride as shadow chancellor and Tom Tugendhat take over from Priti Patel as shadow foreign secretary.
As Shadow Minister for the Union, Mr Dewhirst will scrutinise the Government’s policies affecting England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, as well as its plans for further devolution.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who took office in July, has set out plans to devolve more powers to the UK’s nations and regions and establish a No 10 North operation in Manchester.
Mr Dewhirst said: “I’m thrilled and honoured to be appointed by Kemi Badenoch as Shadow Minister for the Union in His Majesty’s Most Loyal Opposition.
“Britain is stronger as a united community, and as a new Shadow Cabinet Office Minister and Shadow Northern Ireland Minister, I’ll be helping hold our new Prime Minister and First Secretary of State to account over how they run the ever-growing Civil Service, their promises to devolve more power to the UK’s nations and regions, and a range of national security issues.
“Our new Leader of the Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, has worked hard since the election to identify where previous Conservative governments went wrong, and come up with serious and specific plans to fix things.
“Of course, I’ll be no less visible or available to my constituents across East Yorkshire, who want to see our fair share of better local healthcare, fairer special educational needs funding and the scrapping of the cruel Family Farm and Family Business taxes – and with devolution of powers to regional mayors seemingly on the new Prime Minister’s agenda, there’ll be lots to hold to account.”
Charlie Dewhirst was elected MP for the newly created Bridlington and The Wolds constituency at the 2024 General Election, winning 14,846 votes and a majority of 3,125.