Laura Trott has been appointed shadow education secretary in Kemi Badenoch’s front-bench team, it has been reported. The appointment was made today just hours before education secretary Bridget Phillipson and her ministers are due to face education questions in Parliament. Trott is the MP for Sevenoaks in Kent and served as pensions minister and then chief secretary to the Treasury in Rishi Sunak’s government. The appointment comes after Badenoch won the Conservative leadership election, beating opponent Robert Jenrick with 56.5 per cent of the members’ vote. Trott replaces Damian Hinds, the former education secretary and schools minister, who had served in the shadow role since the Conservatives lost the election in July. It is not clear whether Hinds will be appointed to another role in the front-bench team.