Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (United Kingdom)

Template:Short description Template:For Template:Pp Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English Template:PoliticsUK The Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet, or His Majesty’s Most Loyal Opposition Shadow Cabinet, but usually simply the Shadow Cabinet, is the committee of senior members of the Official Opposition who scrutinise the work of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. Each Shadow Cabinet member is typically given a position which corresponds to that of a government minister in Cabinet.

Composition

Shadow Cabinet members, commonly known as shadow ministers, are usually appointed by the leader of the Opposition (currently Kemi Badenoch). The roles of shadow ministers are to develop alternative policies, hold the government to account for its actions and responses, and act as spokespeople for the opposition party in their own specific policy areas.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> By convention, shadow ministers are drawn either from serving members of the House of Commons or the House of Lords, with most chosen from the former. Since July 2024, the Conservative Party has been the Official Opposition, and its leadership therefore forms the current Shadow Cabinet.

Not all opposition frontbenchers are members of the Shadow Cabinet, which is composed of the most senior opposition members (usually they number around twenty).

The leader of the Opposition, the Opposition chief whip and Opposition deputy chief whip are the only members of the Official Opposition in the House of Commons to be paid for their opposition roles in addition to their salaries as members of Parliament. The leader of the Opposition and the Opposition chief whip in the House of Lords also receive a salary.

Other parties may also form frontbench teams of spokespeople which may be referred to as shadow cabinets by the party (e.g. the Liberal Democrats in 2019), but these are not part of the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Current Shadow Cabinet

Template:As of, the members of the shadow cabinet are:<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

His Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition Shadow Cabinet
Shadow Minister Template:Small		Office(s)	Shadows
Shadow Cabinet ministers
	Kemi Badenoch MP for North West Essex	Leader of the Opposition	Prime Minister	Keir Starmer
	Mel Stride MP for Central Devon	Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer	Chancellor of the Exchequer	Rachel Reeves
	Priti Patel MP for Witham	Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs	Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs	Yvette Cooper
	Chris Philp MP for Croydon South	Shadow Home Secretary	Home Secretary	Shabana Mahmood
	James Cartlidge MP for South Suffolk	Shadow Secretary of State for Defence	Secretary of State for Defence	John Healey
	Robert Jenrick MP for Newark	Shadow Secretary of State for Justice	Secretary of State for Justice	David Lammy
	Julia Lopez MP for Hornchurch and Upminster	Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology	Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology	Liz Kendall
	Stuart Andrew MP for Daventry	Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care	Secretary of State for Health and Social Care	Wes Streeting
	James Cleverly MP for Braintree	Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government	Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government	Steve Reed
	Victoria Atkins MP for Louth and Horncastle	Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs	Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs	Emma Reynolds
	Jesse Norman MP for Hereford and South Herefordshire	Shadow Leader of the House of Commons	Leader of the House of Commons	Alan Campbell
	The Lord True	Shadow Leader of the House of Lords	Leader of the House of Lords	Angela Smith
	Andrew Griffith MP for Arundel and South Downs	Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade	Secretary of State for Business and Trade	Peter Kyle
	Claire Coutinho MP for East Surrey	Shadow Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Shadow Minister for Equalities	Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Minister for Women and Equalities	Ed Miliband
	Helen Whately MP for Faversham and Mid Kent	Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions	Secretary of State for Work and Pensions	Pat McFadden
	Laura Trott MP for Sevenoaks	Shadow Secretary of State for Education	Secretary of State for Education	Bridget Phillipson
	Richard Holden MP for Basildon and Billericay	Shadow Secretary of State for Transport	Secretary of State for Transport	Heidi Alexander
		Shadow Paymaster General	Paymaster General	Nick Thomas-Symonds
	Nigel Huddleston MP for Droitwich and Evesham	Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport	Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport	Lisa Nandy
	Alex Burghart MP for Brentwood and Ongar	Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland	Secretary of State for Northern Ireland	Hilary Benn
		Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster	Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster	Darren Jones
	Andrew Bowie MP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine	Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland	Secretary of State for Scotland	Douglas Alexander
	Mims Davies MP for East Grinstead and Uckfield	Shadow Secretary of State for Wales Shadow Minister for Women	Secretary of State for Wales Minister for Women and Equalities	Jo Stevens
	Rebecca Harris MP for Castle Point	Opposition Chief Whip in the House of Commons	Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury	Jonathan Reynolds
	Richard Fuller MP for North East Bedfordshire	Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury	Chief Secretary to the Treasury	James Murray

See also

• His Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition (United Kingdom)
• Official Opposition frontbench
• List of British shadow cabinets
• List of shadow holders of the Great Offices of State
• Cabinet of the United Kingdom

External links

• His Majesty's Official Opposition – official UK Parliament webpage