Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer’s picks for his House leadership team are colleagues he personally trusts, say Conservative strategists — and those who may be a little less close to him following a bruising leadership race are likely to land critic roles.

Scheer unveiled his team earlier this week — for the most part rewarding people who supported his leadership campaign.

Scheer chose former leadership rival Lisa Raitt as his deputy leader. Raitt may have been competing for his job, but she spoke in positive terms of Scheer during the campaign and even said publicly that she would mark Scheer as her second choice on her ballot.

Mark Strahl was appointed whip and Alain Rayes as Quebec lieutenent; both MPs supported Scheer’s campaign. Candice Bergen is staying on as House leader and Chris Warkentin also keeps his job as deputy leader.

Rachel Curran, Stephen Harper’s former policy director, said it’s not surprising that Scheer picked his supporters for his inner circle.

“His leadership team has clearly been picked to provide him also with advice and support as he takes on this new role. It’s a huge role for him and he’s going to have a steep learning curve. So he’s clearly picking people that he trusts,” said Curran.

“I don’t think it’s surprising he picked people who supported him because he’s going to want the circle closest to him to be giving him their best advice and to help him with this new job he’s taken on, which is really an enormous responsibility.”

So where does Maxime Bernier fit into this? Curran said Bernier is almost certain to have a prominent role in Scheer’s shadow cabinet. It’s been suggested that Bernier has been asked to serve as finance critic.

“I think the leadership circle forms a different purpose – they have a different purpose and function than a shadow cabinet,” she said.

Curran said that while Scheer will “absolutely” want Bernier to be apart of his team — she credited Bernier with having a lot of support among party members — she noted that the leadership circle is “a little bit more intimate than that.”

“They are the people who I think Scheer will rely on day to day for advice and support on a range of issues beyond the political news of the day. I don’t think it’s surprising he would choose people who are and have been personally supportive of him to fulfill that task,” said Curran.

Susan Elliott, a Conservative strategist with Catalyst Management and Communications, said Scheer’s appointments suggest “the truth of what was said about Scheer, by both supporters and opponents — that he wouldn’t be a big change from Harper.”

“These early appointments would seem to confirm that. There is nothing eye-popping in these appointments,” she said.

Elliott, echoing Curran, said leadership rivals likely will be better represented in the shadow cabinet.

Tim Powers, vice-chairman of Summa Strategies, said he’d hold off on rendering judgement on “who’s in and who’s out” until after the critic roles are filled, which he understands won’t happen until the fall.

“Most of the [House] leadership positions are about the business of the House,” he said, “It’s not always the best place for people to showcase their talents and if Bernier ends up in senior critic role he’ll be asking a lot of important questions and putting the government under pressure.”

While Powers acknowledged that the leadership team does have more regular interaction with the leader, he warned against suggesting that Scheer’s excluding anyone until after the critic roles have been revealed.