Peter Michael Ainsworth was a British Conservative politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for East Surrey from 1992 to 2010.
Hilary James Wedgwood Benn is a British politician who has served as Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland since 2023. A member of the Labour Party, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Leeds Central since a by-election in 1999. He served in the Cabinet from 2003 to 2010, under both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. He also served as Shadow Foreign Secretary from 2015 to 2016 and as Chairman of the Brexit Select Committee from 2016 to 2021.
The Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions was a United Kingdom Cabinet position created in 1997, with responsibility for the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR). The position and department were created for John Prescott by merging the positions and responsibilities of the Secretary of State for Environment, the Secretary of State for Transport and some other functions.
Maria Eagle is a British politician who served in the governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. She later served in the Shadow cabinets of Ed Miliband and Jeremy Corbyn. A member of the Labour Party, she has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Garston and Halewood, previously Liverpool Garston, since 1997.
Sir David Roy Lidington is a British politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Aylesbury from 1992 until 2019. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office from 2018 to 2019 and was frequently described as being Theresa May's de facto Deputy Prime Minister.
Sir James Edward Thornton Paice, DL is a British politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for South East Cambridgeshire from 1987 to 2015, when he declined to run for reelection and retired from politics. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as Minister of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2010 until being removed in a government reshuffle in 2012. Following his service in government, Paice was knighted in September 2012.
The Shadow Cabinet appointed by Conservative Party leader William Hague was the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet from 1997 to 2001. Following his initial appointments in June 1997, Hague reshuffled the Shadow Cabinet five times before his resignation as leader following defeat in the 2001 general election.
Following poor results for the Labour Party in the local elections in England on 4 May 2006, British Prime Minister Tony Blair held a cabinet reshuffle the following day.
The UK Shadow Cabinet was appointed by Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith. Following his initial appointments in September 2001 Smith managed three reshuffles before his resignation as leader in November 2003.
The Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands, commonly referred to as the Rural Affairs Secretary, is a position in the Scottish Government Cabinet. The Cabinet Secretary is responsible for rural Scotland and its islands, agriculture, forestry, fisheries, aquaculture, food and drink, and crofting. The Cabinet Secretary is assisted by the Minister for Environment, Biodiversity and Land Reform, Màiri McAllan.
The Shadow Cabinets appointed by Michael Howard, a Conservative, are listed below.
Ed Miliband became Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition upon being elected to the former post on 25 September 2010. The election was triggered by Gordon Brown's resignation following the party's fall from power at the 2010 general election, which yielded a Conservative–Liberal Democrat Coalition. Miliband appointed his first Shadow Cabinet in October 2010, following the Labour Party Shadow Cabinet elections. These elections were the last such elections before they were abolished in 2011.
The Shadow Secretary of State for Transport is a political post in the United Kingdom. It has been consistently held by a member of the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet since May 1979. The Shadow Secretary helps hold the Transport Secretary and junior ministers to account and is the lead spokesperson on transport matters for his or her party. Should the relevant party take office, the Shadow Secretary would be a likely candidate to become Transport Secretary.
The shadow cabinet minister for international development is the lead spokesperson for the United Kingdom's Official Opposition on issues related to international aid, most notably to the Third World. The shadow cabinet minister holds the Minister of State for Development and Africa to account in Parliament. The role previously had no counterpart in the Government between 2020 and 2022 after the Department for International Development (DFID) and the role of international development secretary was abolished by the second Johnson government in 2020. The position was renamed from Shadow Secretary of State for International Development in November 2021 and placed under the Shadow Foreign Secretary.
John Smith was Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Official Opposition from 18 July 1992 until his death on 12 May 1994. Smith became leader upon succeeding Neil Kinnock, who had resigned following the 1992 general election—for the fourth successive time, the Conservatives had won and Labour lost.
Tony Blair was Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition from his election as Leader on 21 July 1994 until he became Prime Minister on 2 May 1997. Blair became leader upon the death of John Smith. Under Blair, the Labour Party was rebranded as New Labour to distance itself from previous Labour politics and the traditional idea of socialism. Despite opposition from Labour's left-wing, he abolished Clause IV, the party's formal commitment to the nationalisation of the economy, weakened trade union influence in the party, and committed to the free market and the European Union.
Neil Kinnock was Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition from 2 October 1983 to 18 July 1992. He convincingly defeated Roy Hattersley, Eric Heffer, and Peter Shore in the 1983 leadership election, which was prompted by Michael Foot's resignation following the disastrous general election result earlier that year. Kinnock's period as Leader encompassed the bulk of the Thatcher premiership and the first two years of the Major premiership. Kinnock resigned in 1992 after losing his second election as Leader.
Jeremy Corbyn assumed the position of Leader of the Opposition after being elected as leader of the Labour Party on 12 September 2015; the election was triggered by Ed Miliband's resignation following the Labour Party's electoral defeat at the 2015 general election when David Cameron formed a majority Conservative government. The usual number of junior shadow ministers were also appointed.
Keir Starmer became Leader of the Opposition in the United Kingdom after being elected as Leader of the Labour Party on 4 April 2020. He appointed his Shadow Cabinet on 5 and 6 April. Starmer has reshuffled his Shadow Cabinet five times: in June 2020, May 2021, June 2021, November 2021 and September 2023.
The frontbench of His Majesty's Loyal Opposition in the Parliament of the United Kingdom consists of the Shadow Cabinet and other official shadow ministers of the political party currently serving as the Official Opposition. The Opposition front bench provide Parliamentary opposition to the British Government front bench, and is currently the Labour Party led by Keir Starmer since April 2020.
