Letter from David Cameron

Dear MANUEL,

I've made some important changes to the Shadow Cabinet today.

The most significant change is that Ken Clarke has agreed to join George Osborne's economic team as Shadow Business Secretary.

Ken helped bring us out of the last recession and left Gordon Brown a golden economic legacy. He hasn't been in the Shadow Cabinet since then but now, as you can see from this video, he's ready to put in place the policies to bring us out of this recession.

I've also appointed Eric Pickles to be the new Party Chairman. Eric ran Bradford Council in the 80s and has amassed a huge amount of experience in campaigning and local government - I know he will make an excellent Chairman.

Chris Grayling will be the new Shadow Home Secretary. Chris is a very able politician and I look forward to him using his talents to highlight the importance of combating crime and rebuilding confidence in the police force.

Another change is that we'll see Mark Francois joining the Shadow Cabinet for the first time. Having done an excellent job as Shadow Europe Minister Mark is well-placed to prepare us for the European elections coming up in June, and to fend off any resurrection of the idea of joining the Euro.

With these and the other appointments I'm confident that we have the strongest possible team, ready to take the country forward.

David Cameron