Shadow Cabinet of Rishi Sunak

For the wider team, see Opposition frontbench of Rishi Sunak.

Sunak Shadow Cabinet
Shadow cabinet of the United Kingdom
July – November 2024
Sunak with members of his shadow cabinet during a session of Prime Minister's Questions in July 2024
Date formed	8 July 2024
Date dissolved	2 November 2024
People and organisations
Monarch	Charles III
Leader of the Opposition	Rishi Sunak
Shadow Deputy Prime Minister	Oliver Dowden
Member party	Conservative
Status in legislature	Official Opposition 121 / 650 (19%)
History
Legislature terms	2024 UK Parliament
Incoming formation	2024 general election
Outgoing formation	2024 Conservative leadership election
Predecessor	Shadow Cabinet of Keir Starmer
Successor	Shadow Cabinet of Kemi Badenoch

Rishi Sunak was Leader of the Opposition as Leader of the Conservative Party from 5 July to 2 November 2024, following his resignation as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the aftermath of the Conservative Party's defeat in the 2024 general election. He formed his shadow cabinet on 8 July 2024. Sunak served as Leader of the Opposition in a caretaker capacity until his successor was elected in the 2024 Conservative leadership election; the result was announced on 2 November.

Overview

In his resignation speech, Rishi Sunak announced that he would resign as the Conservative leader once the arrangements are in place for his successor to be elected in the 2024 Conservative leadership election. ^[1] He formed his shadow cabinet on 8 July 2024. ^[2] This was the party's first shadow cabinet since the Shadow Cabinet of David Cameron, which was disbanded in 2010 after Cameron formed a coalition government with Nick Clegg's Liberal Democrats following that year's general election. ^[3]

Most members of Sunak's cabinet heading into the 2024 general election were given the same portfolios in the shadow cabinet, including former chancellor Jeremy Hunt, who became shadow chancellor, and former Home Secretary James Cleverly, who became Shadow Home Secretary. ^[3] Cameron, who previously served as Foreign Secretary, chose to retire from frontline politics, with his former deputy Andrew Mitchell becoming Shadow Foreign Secretary instead. ^[4] Richard Holden resigned as party chairman, and was succeeded by Richard Fuller in an interim capacity outside shadow cabinet. ^[5]

Sunak appointed new officeholders to the portfolios held by the eleven cabinet ministers who lost their seats in the election, including Edward Argar, who became shadow justice secretary after the outgoing justice secretary Alex Chalk lost his seat, as well as Helen Whately, who became shadow transport secretary after the outgoing transport secretary Mark Harper also lost his seat. ^[2] Among other noteworthy appointments, Kemi Badenoch became the shadow housing, communities and local government secretary and former deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden became deputy leader of the opposition. ^{[2] [6]}

Sunak served as Leader of the Opposition in a caretaker capacity until his successor was elected in the 2024 Conservative leadership election; the result was announced on 2 November.

Shadow cabinet appointments

Key

	Sits in the House of Commons
	Sits in the House of Lords

Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet of the United Kingdom ^[2]

Portfolio	Shadow Minister			Constituency	Term
Shadow cabinet ministers
Leader of the Opposition Leader of the Conservative Party			The Rt Hon Rishi Sunak MP	Richmond and Northallerton	July 2024 – November 2024
Shadow Deputy Prime Minister Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster			The Rt Hon Sir Oliver Dowden KCB CBE MP	Hertsmere	July 2024 – November 2024
Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer			The Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP	Godalming and Ash	July 2024 – November 2024
Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs			The Rt Hon Andrew Mitchell MP	Sutton Coldfield	July 2024 – November 2024
Shadow Home Secretary			The Rt Hon James Cleverly TD VR MP	Braintree	July 2024 – November 2024
Shadow Secretary of State for Defence			James Cartlidge MP	South Suffolk	July 2024 – November 2024
Shadow Lord Chancellor Shadow Secretary of State for Justice			The Rt Hon Ed Argar MP	Melton and Syston	July 2024 – November 2024
Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology			Andrew Griffith MP	Arundel and South Downs	July 2024 – November 2024
Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care			The Rt Hon Victoria Atkins MP	Louth and Horncastle	July 2024 – November 2024
Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities			The Rt Hon Kemi Badenoch MP	North West Essex	July 2024 – November 2024
Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs			The Rt Hon Steve Barclay MP	North East Cambridgeshire	July 2024 – November 2024
Shadow Leader of the House of Commons			The Rt Hon Chris Philp MP	Croydon South	July 2024 – November 2024
Shadow Leader of the House of Lords			The Rt Hon The Lord True CBE PC	Member of the House of Lords	July 2024 – November 2024
Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade			Kevin Hollinrake MP	Thirsk and Malton	July 2024 – November 2024
Shadow Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero			The Rt Hon Claire Coutinho MP	East Surrey	July 2024 – November 2024
Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions			The Rt Hon Mel Stride MP	Central Devon	July 2024 – November 2024
Shadow Secretary of State for Education			The Rt Hon Damian Hinds MP	East Hampshire	July 2024 – November 2024
Shadow Secretary of State for Transport			Helen Whately MP	Faversham and Mid Kent	July 2024 – November 2024
Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport			Julia Lopez MP	Hornchurch and Upminster	July 2024 – November 2024
Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland			Alex Burghart MP	Brentwood and Ongar	July 2024 – November 2024
Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland			John Lamont MP	Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk	July 2024 – November 2024
Shadow Secretary of State for Wales			The Rt Hon The Lord Davies of Gower	Member of the House of Lords	July 2024 – November 2024
Also attending shadow cabinet meetings
Opposition Chief Whip of the House of Commons			The Rt Hon Stuart Andrew MP	Daventry	July 2024 – November 2024
Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury			The Rt Hon Laura Trott MBE MP	Sevenoaks	July 2024 – November 2024
Shadow Attorney General			The Rt Hon Jeremy Wright KC MP	Kenilworth and Southam	July 2024 – November 2024
Shadow Paymaster General			The Rt Hon John Glen MP	Salisbury	July 2024 – November 2024
Shadow Minister for Security			The Rt Hon Tom Tugendhat MBE VR MP	Tonbridge	July 2024 – November 2024
Shadow Minister for Veterans			Andrew Bowie MP	West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine	July 2024 – November 2024
Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities			Mims Davies MP	East Grinstead and Uckfield	July 2024 – November 2024

Junior roles

On 18 July, further junior frontbench roles were appointed. ^[7]

Changes

Changes from Sunak's final Cabinet to Shadow Cabinet. ^{[8] [9] [10] [11]}

• David Cameron (Foreign Secretary) resigned and was succeeded by Andrew Mitchell.
• Mitchell was Deputy Foreign Secretary for question time in the Commons and attended Cabinet as Minister of State for Development and Africa. Harriett Baldwin was later announced as Shadow Development Minister, but did not attend Shadow Cabinet. ^[12]
• Grant Shapps (Defence Secretary) lost his seat and was succeeded by James Cartlidge.
• Alex Chalk (Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor) lost his seat and was succeeded by Ed Argar.
• Michelle Donelan (Science Secretary) lost her seat and was succeeded by Andrew Griffith.
• Michael Gove (Housing and Communities Secretary and Minister for Intergovernmental Relations) stood down and was succeeded in the former role by Kemi Badenoch; the latter role did not have a successor named.
• Badenoch (Business Secretary and Minister for Women and Equalities) was succeeded by Kevin Hollinrake in the former role and Mims Davies in the latter role.
• Penny Mordaunt (Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council) lost her seat and was succeeded by Chris Philp.
• Gillian Keegan (Education Secretary) lost her seat and was succeeded by Damian Hinds.
• Mark Harper (Transport Secretary) lost his seat and was succeeded by Helen Whately.
• Lucy Frazer (Culture Secretary) lost her seat and was succeeded by Julia Lopez.
• Richard Holden (Minister without Portfolio and party chair) resigned and was succeeded by Richard Fuller in an interim capacity outside Shadow Cabinet.
• Chris Heaton-Harris (Northern Ireland Secretary) stood down and was succeeded by Alex Burghart.
• Alister Jack (Scotland Secretary) stood down and was succeeded by John Lamont.
• David T. C. Davies (Wales Secretary) lost his seat and was succeeded by The Lord Davies of Gower. No Conservative MPs were elected in Wales.
• Simon Hart (Chief Whip of the House of Commons and Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury), who attended Cabinet, lost his seat and was succeeded by Stuart Andrew.
• Victoria Prentis (Attorney General), who attended Cabinet, lost her seat and was succeeded by Jeremy Wright.
• Johnny Mercer (Minister of State for Veterans' Affairs), who attended Cabinet, lost his seat and was succeeded by Andrew Bowie.
• Michael Tomlinson (Minister of State for Countering Illegal Migration), who attended Cabinet, lost his seat and was not succeeded by anybody.

References

1. "Rishi Sunak accepts responsibility for historic Tory defeat". BBC News. 4 July 2024. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
2. Kelly, Kieran (8 July 2024). "Richard Holden quits as Tory party chairman as Rishi Sunak unveils shadow cabinet". LBC News. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
3. Craig, Jon (8 July 2024). "Sunak names shadow cabinet". Sky News. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
4. Hymas, Charles (8 July 2024). "David Cameron to step back from frontline politics". The Telegraph. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
5. "UK's Sunak appoints 'shadow' cabinet after historic election loss | Reuters". Reuters .
6. Muvija, M. (8 July 2024). "UK's Sunak appoints 'shadow' cabinet after historic election loss". Reuters. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
7. "Conservatives add to front bench team from reduced post-election ranks". BBC News. 19 July 2024. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
8. Walker, Peter (8 July 2024). "David Cameron quits Tory frontbench as Sunak names interim top team". The Guardian.
9. "His Majesty's Official Opposition: The Shadow Cabinet – MPs and Lords – UK Parliament".
10. "Sunak names interim shadow cabinet as David Cameron resigns". BBC News. 8 July 2024.
11. Wilson, Conor (9 July 2024). "Sunak appoints former Royal Navy officer as shadow veterans' minister". www.forces.net.
12. https://x.com/pauljholmes/status/1814365536538493070