Our survey. Jenrick holds the lead and Cartlidge surges in the Shadow Cabinet League Table

Kemi Badenoch’s standing in the Shadow Cabinet League Table is no longer in freefall, but it doesn’t seem to have bottomed out yet. In last month’s survey, her score fell by 19 points; this time, it was just 2.7.

That’s progress, of a sort – the pilot has at least eased the dive even if not yet pulled out of it. Yet given her very strong historic performance in the League Table, it’s still an historic low for Badenoch, and it sees her drop to 18th place and into the bottom half of the table.

Meanwhile Robert Jenrick is up one point on last month and continues to lead the table. This isn’t a surprise. Whatever your view on him and his leadership bid, it is very hard to argue that he hasn’t, of all his colleagues, clocked on most swiftly to what so much of opposition is about: courting the media.

Of course, an energetic media strategy also looks a lot like being on manoeuvres – and one would have to be very naïve indeed to think that the possibility of another contest, perhaps next year, is far from the Shadow Justice Secretary’s thoughts. But it is also his job (the entire Shadow Cabinet’s job, in fact), which means there’s no plausible pretext for trying to rein him in.

What else? Chris Philp and Mel Stride have swapped places on the podium, although the margin remains as razor-thin as last month. Just below them, there has been a surge in support for James Cartlidge: up almost 20 points and six places, from +19.8 last month to +40.2 this month.

Even passing familiarity with recent news explains why the Shadow Defence Secretary might be having a moment in the sun (although perhaps our panellists were just impressed by his strong stance on military housing, which we published last month).

At the bottom, Priti Patel as gained ten points to get just the right side of zero, leaving Alan Mak once again the lanterne rouge. Outside the Shadow Cabinet, Russell Findlay has put on four points.

Overall, there is a little more air in this League Table than last month’s: Mak is the only shadow minister with a negative score, there’s one fewer in single digits, more in the higher teens, and so on. That is perhaps slightly odd in light of the leader’s still-declining score; it will be interesting to see of this disconnect deepens next month.

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