Shadow Attorney General for England and Wales | |
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Appointer | Leader of the Opposition |
The shadow attorney general for England and Wales is an office within British politics held by a member of His Majesty's Loyal Opposition. The duty of the office holder is to scrutinise the actions of the attorney general for England and Wales and develop alternative policies. The shadow attorney general is not a member of the Shadow Cabinet, but attends its meetings. [1]
The shadow attorney general is deputised by the shadow solicitor general.
Name | Entered office | Left office | Political party | Shadow Cabinet | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Michael Havers | 18 February 1975 | 4 May 1979 | Conservative | Margaret Thatcher | ||
Samuel Silkin | 4 May 1979 | 14 July 1979 | Labour | James Callaghan | ||
John Morris | ![]() | 14 July 1979 | 24 November 1981 | Labour | ||
Michael Foot | ||||||
Peter Archer | 24 November 1981 | 24 November 1982 | Labour | |||
Arthur Davidson | 24 November 1982 | 9 June 1983 | Labour | |||
John Morris | ![]() | 9 June 1983 | 2 May 1997 | Labour | ||
Neil Kinnock | ||||||
John Smith | ||||||
Margaret Beckett | ||||||
Tony Blair | ||||||
Nicholas Lyell | 2 May 1997 | 19 June 1997 | Conservative | John Major | ||
Edward Garnier | ![]() | 19 June 1997 | 13 September 2001 | Conservative | William Hague | |
Iain Duncan Smith | ||||||
Bill Cash | ![]() | 14 September 2001 | 6 November 2003 | Conservative | ||
Dominic Grieve | ![]() | 6 November 2003 | 8 September 2009 | Conservative | Michael Howard | |
David Cameron | ||||||
Edward Garnier | ![]() | 8 September 2009 | 11 May 2010 | Conservative | ||
The Baroness Scotland of Asthal | ![]() | 11 May 2010 | 7 October 2011 | Labour | Harriet Harman | |
Ed Miliband | ||||||
Emily Thornberry | ![]() | 7 October 2011 | 3 December 2014 | Labour | ||
The Lord Bach | ![]() | 3 December 2014 | 14 September 2015 | Labour | ||
Harriet Harman | ||||||
Catherine McKinnell | ![]() | 14 September 2015 | 11 January 2016 | Labour | Jeremy Corbyn | |
Karl Turner | ![]() | 11 January 2016 | 26 June 2016 | Labour | ||
Vacant | 26 June 2016 | 6 October 2016 | ||||
The Baroness Chakrabarti | ![]() | 6 October 2016 | 6 April 2020 | Labour | ||
The Lord Falconer of Thoroton | ![]() | 6 April 2020 | 29 November 2021 | Labour | Keir Starmer | |
Emily Thornberry | ![]() | 29 November 2021 | 5 July 2024 | Labour | ||
Jeremy Wright | ![]() | 8 July 2024 | 6 November 2024 | Conservative | Rishi Sunak | |
The Lord Wolfson of Tredegar | ![]() | 6 November 2024 | Incumbent | Conservative | Kemi Badenoch |
The secretary of state for Wales, also referred to as the Welsh secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Wales Office. The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom.
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.
His Majesty's Attorney General for England and Wales is the chief legal adviser to the sovereign and Government in affairs pertaining to England and Wales as well as the highest ranking amongst the law officers of the Crown. The attorney general is the leader of the Attorney General's Office and currently attends the Cabinet. Unlike in other countries employing the common law legal system, the attorney general does not govern the administration of justice; that function is carried out by the secretary of state for justice and lord chancellor. The incumbent is also concurrently advocate general for Northern Ireland.
John Mark Taylor was a British solicitor and Conservative politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Solihull from 1983 to 2005, when he lost his seat to Lorely Burt of the Liberal Democrats by a margin of 279 votes in the 2005 general election. He had previously been a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and leader of West Midlands County Council. He was first elected to the House of Commons in 1983, and served as a junior minister under John Major.
The law officers are the senior legal advisors to His Majesty's Government of the United Kingdom and devolved governments of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. They are variously referred to as the Attorney General, Solicitor General, Lord Advocate, or Advocate General depending on seniority and geography – though other terms are also in use, such as the Counsel General for Wales. Law officers in these roles are distinguished by being political appointees, while also being bound by the duties of independence, justice and confidentiality among the other typical professional commitments of lawyers. These roles do not have any direct oversight of prosecutions nor do they directly lead or influence criminal investigations. This is a distinguishing factor between law officers and the state attorneys general of the United States or US Attorney General.
His Majesty's Solicitor General for England and Wales, known informally as the Solicitor General, is one of the law officers of the Crown in the government of the United Kingdom. They are the deputy of the Attorney General, whose duty is to advise the Crown and Cabinet on the law. They exercise the powers of the Attorney General which are delegated to them under section 1 of the Law Officers Act 1997. Despite the title, the position is usually held by a barrister as opposed to a solicitor.
The Wales Office, previously the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales from 2017 to 2024, is a department of His Majesty's Government. It replaced the former Welsh Office, which had extensive responsibility for governing Wales prior to Welsh devolution in 1999.
Jessica Elizabeth Morden is a British politician serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for Newport East since 2005. A member of the Labour Party, she was General Secretary of Welsh Labour from 1999 until her election to Parliament.
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.
The 1796 British general election returned members to serve in the 18th and last House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain. They were summoned before the Union of Great Britain and Ireland on 1 January 1801. The members in office in Great Britain at the end of 1800 continued to serve in the first Parliament of the United Kingdom (1801–02).
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.
John Clarkson Maddison was a New South Wales politician, Attorney General, Minister for Justice and Deputy Leader for the Liberal Party of New South Wales in the cabinets of Robert Askin, Tom Lewis and Sir Eric Willis until the Liberal party lost the 1976 election. Maddison was first elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for the Electoral district of Hornsby in 1962 until 1973 and thereon as member for Ku-ring-gai until his retirement in 1980.
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.
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.
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.
Michael Foot was Leader of the Opposition from 4 November 1980, following his victory in the 1980 leadership election, to 2 October 1983, when he was replaced by Neil Kinnock at the 1983 leadership election. The 1980 leadership contest was triggered by James Callaghan's loss at the 1979 general election, and the 1983 contest by Foot's own disastrous defeat in the 1983 general election.
Margaret Thatcher became the first female Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition after winning the 1975 leadership election, the first Conservative leadership election where the post was not vacant. A rule change to enable the election was largely prompted by dissatisfaction with the incumbent leader, Edward Heath, who had lost three of four general elections as leader, including two in 1974. After announcing her first Shadow Cabinet in February 1975, she reshuffled it twice: in January and November 1976. Minor subsequent changes were necessary to respond to various circumstances. Thatcher's Shadow Cabinet ceased to exist upon her becoming Prime Minister following the 1979 general election.
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.
The shadow solicitor general is a member of the Official Opposition frontbench.