The shadow cabinet or shadow ministry is a feature of the Westminster system of government. It consists of a senior group of opposition spokespeople who, under the leadership of the Leader of the Opposition, form an alternative cabinet to that of the government, and whose members shadow or mirror the positions of each individual member of the Cabinet. Their areas of responsibility, in parallel with the ruling party's ministries, may be referred to as a shadow portfolio. Members of a shadow cabinet have no executive power. It is the shadow cabinet's responsibility to scrutinise the policies and actions of the government, as well as to offer alternative policies. The shadow cabinet makes up the majority of the Official Opposition frontbench, as part of frontbenchers to the parliament. Smaller opposition parties in Britain and Ireland have Frontbench Teams.
In many parliaments and other similar assemblies, seating is typically arranged in banks or rows, with each political party or caucus grouped together. The spokespeople for each group will often sit at the front of their group, and are then known as being on the frontbench and are described as frontbenchers. Those sitting behind them are known as backbenchers. Independent and minority parties sit to the side or on benches between the two sides, and are referred to as crossbenchers. Frontbenchers may be part of a Frontbench Team with other members of their political party.
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. Shadow Cabinet members, known as Shadow Ministers, are usually appointed by the leader of the Opposition. 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. 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.
The Liberal Democrats are a political party in the United Kingdom. While in opposition, the Leader of the Liberal Democrats appoints a frontbench team of Members of Parliament (MPs), Peers, Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) and Members of the Senedd (MSs), to speak for the party on different issues. Their areas of responsibility broadly corresponded to those of Government ministers. The frontbench team is divided into departmental sub-units, the principal ones being the economy, foreign policy, and home affairs. Sometimes the frontbench team consists of more than just the principal positions.
Unlike in the Parliament at Westminster where there is an Official Opposition to the government of the day, all parties in the Scottish Parliament that are not in government are all technically on the same footing as 'opposition parties'. With the Scottish National Party (SNP) currently in government, the Scottish Conservatives and Scottish Labour each have a Shadow Cabinet composed of Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) and prospective parliamentary candidates.
The Government frontbench in the Parliament of the United Kingdom, also known as the Treasury Bench, consists of the Cabinet and all other ministers.
The list that follows is the Liberal Democrats Frontbench Team/Shadow Cabinet led by Charles Kennedy, who was Party leader from 1999 to 2006. The Party began to refer to its Frontbench Team as a Shadow Cabinet during Kennedy's tenure as leader.
The list that follows is the Liberal Democrats Frontbench Team/Shadow Cabinet led by Vince Cable, who was acting leader between 15 October and 18 December 2007, following the resignation of Menzies Campbell and prior to the election of Nick Clegg.
Tim Farron succeeded Nick Clegg as Leader of the Liberal Democrats on 29 July 2015, unveiling his Frontbench Team shortly afterwards. Farron conducted his first reshuffle on 28 October 2016. A second reshuffle was conducted on 8 May 2017. In July of the same year Farron resigned and was succeeded by Vince Cable.
The Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesperson is the spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats on matters relating to the work of the Home Secretary and Home Office. The office holder is a member of the Liberal Democrat frontbench team. The post exists when the Liberal Democrats are in opposition, but not when they in government, for example during the Cameron–Clegg coalition.
His Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition, commonly known as the Official Opposition in the United Kingdom, is the main political opposition to His Majesty's Government. This is usually the political party with the second-largest number of seats in the House of Commons, as the largest party will usually form the government. Since July 2024, the Official Opposition has been the Conservative Party, led by former British prime minister Rishi Sunak.
The Frontbench Team of Ian Blackford was the team of Scottish National Party Spokespersons in the House of Commons from 2017 to 2022.
On 20 July 2017, Sir Vince Cable became Leader of the Liberal Democrats after facing no competition. He was the oldest leader of a major UK political party since Sir Winston Churchill. Upon taking office Cable made no significant reshuffle to his Frontbench Team, so the line-up remained much as it was inherited from Tim Farron. Cable later completed his first reshuffle a few weeks after the Party's 2017 Autumn Conference.
Jo Swinson was elected to lead the Liberal Democrats on 22 July 2019. However, she resigned the leadership following the loss of her seat in the 2019 General Election. Swinson was the first woman to lead the party, and also the youngest person to do so. The list that follows is the frontbench team led by Swinson in 2019.
The Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson is the spokesperson for the United Kingdom Liberal Democrats on matters relating to the work of the Chancellor of the Exchequer and HM Treasury. The office holder is a member of the Liberal Democrat frontbench team. The post exists when the Liberal Democrats are in opposition, but not when they are in government, for example during the Cameron–Clegg coalition.
Rod Richards, the leader of the Welsh Conservative Group in the National Assembly for Wales, formed his frontbench team of party spokespeople on 13 May 1998. Richards had led his party into the 1999 National Assembly for Wales election after being elected as leader of the Welsh Conservative Group in 1998.
Mike German, the leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrat Group in the National Assembly for Wales, formed his second frontbench team of party spokespeople on 8 May 2003 after the dissolution of his party's coalition government with Rhodri Morgan's Welsh Labour following the 2003 National Assembly for Wales election. Richards had already formed a frontbench team before entering coalition, when his party became an opposition party after the 1999 National Assembly for Wales election before forming the coalition with Labour in October 2000.
Mike German, the leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrat Group in the National Assembly for Wales, formed his frontbench team of party spokespeople on 13 May 1999. German had led his party into the 1999 National Assembly for Wales election after being elected as leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrat Group in 1998. This was his first frontbench team in the assembly, with it dissolving after the party entered government in October 2000. He formed a second frontbench team after his party returned to opposition in May 2003.
Kirsty Williams, the leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, formed her frontbench team of party spokespeople in the National Assembly for Wales on 11 December 2008 after she was elected to succeed Mike German as party leader on 8 December. She reshuffled her frontbench team after the 2011 National Assembly for Wales election before her party's seat share was reduced from five to one at the 2016 National Assembly for Wales election, with Williams becoming the party's sole assembly member (AM).
Ieuan Wyn Jones, the leader of Plaid Cymru, formed his frontbench team of party spokespeople in the National Assembly for Wales on 25 May 2011 after the dissolution of his party's coalition government with Rhodri Morgan and Carwyn Jones' Welsh Labour following the 2011 National Assembly for Wales election. Jones had previously led a shadow cabinet before entering coalition from 2000 to 2007, when his party had served as the Official Opposition since the 1999 National Assembly for Wales election.
