First Shadow Cabinet of Harold Wilson

First Shadow Cabinet of Harold Wilson
Shadow Cabinet of United Kingdom
1963 – 1964
Date formed	14 February 1963 (1963-02-14)
Date dissolved	16 October 1964 (1964-10-16)
People and organisations
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Leader of the Opposition	Harold Wilson
Deputy Leader of the Opposition	George Brown
Member party	Labour Party
Status in legislature	Official Opposition 258 / 630 (41%)
History
Outgoing election	1959 general election
Legislature terms	42nd UK Parliament
Incoming formation	1963 Labour Party leadership election
Outgoing formation	1964 general election
Predecessor	Shadow Cabinet of George Brown
Successor	Shadow Cabinet of Alec Douglas-Home

The First Shadow Cabinet of Harold Wilson was created on 14 February 1963 following the death of Hugh Gaitskell on 18 January 1963. ^[1]

Shadow Cabinet list

Portfolio	Shadow Minister	Term
Leader of Her Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition Leader of the Labour Party	Harold Wilson	1963 – 1964
Deputy Leader of the Opposition Deputy Leader of the Labour Party	George Brown	1963 – 1964
Shadow Leader of the House of Commons	Unknown	1963 – 1964
Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer	James Callaghan [2]	1963 – 1964
Shadow Foreign Secretary	Patrick Gordon Walker	1963 – 1964
Shadow Home Secretary	George Brown	1963 – 1964
Shadow Minister of Housing and Local Government	Michael Stewart	1963 – 1964
Shadow Secretary of State for Defence	Denis Healey	1963 – 1964
Shadow Minister of Aviation	Frederick Lee	1963 – 1964
Shadow Minister for Transport	George Strauss	1963 – 1964
Shadow Minister for Power	Tom Fraser	1963 – 1964
Shadow President of the Board of Trade	Douglas Jay	1963 – 1964
Shadow Secretary of State for the Colonies	Arthur Bottomley [3]	1963 – 1964
Shadow Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations	John Strachey	1963
	Unknown	1963 – 1964
Shadow Minister for Education	Fred Willey	1963 – 1964
Shadow Minister for Health	Kenneth Robinson	1963 – 1964
Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury	Douglas Houghton [4]	1963 – 1964
Shadow Minister for Labour	Ray Gunter	1963 – 1964
Shadow Minister of Public Buildings and Works	Charles Pannell	1963 – 1964
Shadow Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food	Fred Peart	1963 – 1964
Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland	William Ross	1963 – 1964
Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster	Unknown	1963 – 1964
Shadow Minister of Pensions and National Insurance	Dick Mitchison	1963 – 1964
Shadow Attorney General	Frank Soskice	1963 – 1964
Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords	The Rt Hon. The Earl Alexander of Hillsborough	1963 – 1964
Opposition Chief Whip in the House of Commons	Herbert Bowden	1963 – 1964
Shadow Postmaster General	William Williams	1963
	Unknown	1963 – 1964
Other frontbenchers
Shadow Minister for Higher Education and Science	Richard Crossman	1963 – 1964
Frontbench spokesmen on Disarmament Matters	Philip Noel-Baker	1963 – 1964
Frontbench spokesmen on Economic Affairs	Douglas Jay [5]	1963
Frontbench spokesmen for Wales	Jim Griffiths [6]	1963 – 1964

See also

• Politics portal
• United Kingdom portal

• List of British governments
• Official Opposition of the United Kingdom

References

1. Timothy Heppell, "The Labour Party leadership election of 1963: Explaining the unexpected election of Harold Wilson." Contemporary British History 24.2 (2010): 151-171.
2. "Obituary: Lord Callaghan". the Guardian. 28 March 2005. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
3. "Labor's Shadow Cabinet". Ottawa Citizen. 22 February 1963. Retrieved 15 April 2025.
4. The Shadow Cabinet in British Politics. Taylor & Francis. 13 October 2023. ISBN   9781003804338 . Retrieved 15 April 2025.
5. "Mr Brown Returns to London". Westminster: The Glasgow Herald. 21 February 1963. Retrieved 15 April 2025.
6. Robert Malcolm Punnett (1973). Front-bench opposition; the role of the Leader of the Opposition, the Shadow Cabinet and Shadow Government in British politics. London. pp. 458–467. ISBN   978-0-435-83734-1 . Retrieved 18 April 2025.