Shadow Cabinet of Wales

In Wales, a shadow cabinet (Welsh : cabinet cysgodol) is formed from members of the official opposition in the Senedd (Welsh Parliament; Senedd Cymru), the largest party not part of the Welsh Government, to scrutinise ministers in the Welsh Cabinet. It is led by the Leader of the Opposition, who typically appoints members of the Senedd (MSs) from their party as shadow ministers with portfolios which mirror ministerial posts in the Cabinet who scrutinise ministers and can propose their own alternative policies. Other opposition parties in the Senedd also appoint frontbench teams of spokespeople who perform the same function. These are also sometimes styled as "shadow cabinets" by their parties, though unlike the Shadow Cabinet they have no official recognition. Since 2021, the Shadow Cabinet has been formed from members of the Welsh Conservatives led by Andrew RT Davies, who have alternated with Plaid Cymru as the official opposition in the Senedd since its establishment as the National Assembly for Wales in 1999.

The first shadow cabinet of Wales was formed by Plaid Cymru's Dafydd Wigley in 1999. Its members were elected to shadow portfolios by members of the Plaid Cymru Group in the National Assembly for Wales. In 2000, Plaid Cymru's Ieuan Wyn Jones succeeded Wigley as Leader of the Opposition and formed a new shadow cabinet, this time personally appointing its members; since then, members of the Shadow Cabinet have usually been appointed by the Leader of the Opposition. Leaders may reshuffle their shadow cabinet, swapping members' portfolios and appointing new members to the Shadow Cabinet. The official opposition can also appoint party staff and spokespeople to the Shadow Cabinet who have no shadow ministerial portfolio.

The Shadow Cabinet presents itself as an alternative government-in-waiting. It is tasked with scrutinising government ministers, and its members are meant to lead the official opposition in challenging members of the Welsh Government and taking them to account. As party group spokespeople in the Senedd, shadow ministers are able to speak for their respective party and question their relevant ministerial counterparts at plenary sessions of the Senedd.

Conservative team

Main article: Shadow Cabinet of Darren Millar

In December 2024, Darren Millar succeeded Andrew RT Davies as leader of the Welsh Conservatives Senedd Group and announced his shadow cabinet. ^[1] It underwent a minor re-shuffle in April 2025. ^[2] Until January 2026, Welsh Conservatives formed the second-largest group in the Senedd as of 2025, therefore its leader was deemed the leader of the opposition in the Senedd. However, due to the removal of James Evans from the Conservative group, the number of Welsh Conservative and Plaid Cymru seats tied, resulting in no official opposition.

Portfolio	Name			Constituency	Term
Leader of the Opposition Leader of the Welsh Conservatives			Darren Millar MS	Clwyd West	December 2024 -
Deputy Leader of the Opposition Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Constitutional Affairs Chief Whip			Paul Davies MS	Preseli Pembrokeshire	December 2024 -
Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Finance			Sam Rowlands MS	North Wales	December 2024 -
Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Energy			Samuel Kurtz MS	Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire	December 2024 -
Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care			Vacant		January 2026 -
Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Education			Natasha Asghar MS	South Wales East	December 2024 -
Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Transport and Rural Affairs			Peter Fox MS	Monmouth	December 2024 -
Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change			Janet Finch-Saunders MS	Aberconwy	March 2021 -
Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Local Government, Housing and Armed Forces			Laura Anne Jones MS	South Wales East	December 2024 -
Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Equalities and Social Justice			Altaf Hussain MS	South Wales West	December 2024 -
Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Sport and North Wales			Gareth Davies MS	Vale of Clwyd	December 2024 -
Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Children, Young People, Mental Health and Wellbeing			Joel James MS	South Wales Central	December 2024 -
Shadow Counsel General Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Delivery, External Affairs and Welsh Language			Tom Giffard MS	South Wales West	April 2025 -

Plaid Cymru team

Rhun ap Iorwerth was announced as a new leader of Plaid Cymru on the 16 June 2023. ^[3] He announced his shadow cabinet on the 27 June. ^[4] Plaid Cymru currently ties the Welsh Conservatives with the second-largest grouping in the Senedd as of 2026. Prior to this, while not the leading opposition, Plaid Cymru also formed a team which they labelled as a "shadow cabinet".

Plaid Cymru shadow cabinet (as of June 2024)

Portfolio	Name			Constituency or electoral region	Term
Leader of Plaid Cymru Shadow Minister for the Constitution and International Affairs			Rhun ap Iorwerth MS	Ynys Môn	2023–
Deputy Leader and Shadow Minister for Climate Change			Delyth Jewell MS	South Wales East	2023–
Shadow Minister for Agriculture and Rural Affairs Chair of the Senedd Group			Llyr Huws Gruffydd MS	North Wales	2023–
Shadow Minister for Finance, Welsh Language and Culture Business Manager			Heledd Fychan MS	South Wales Central	2023–
Shadow Minister for Health and Social Care Chief Whip			Mabon ap Gwynfor MS	Dwyfor Meirionnydd	2023–
Shadow Minister for Justice and European Affairs Senedd Commissioner			Adam Price MS	Carmarthen East and Dinefwr	2023–
Shadow Minister for Local Government and Transport			Peredur Owen Griffiths MS	South Wales East	2023–
Shadow Minister for Social Justice and Early Years Deputy Whip			Sioned Williams MS	South Wales West	2023–
Shadow Minister for the Economy and Energy			Luke Fletcher MS	South Wales West	2023–
Shadow Minister for Housing and Planning			Siân Gwenllian MS	Arfon	2023–
Shadow Minister for Education			Cefin Campbell MS	Mid and West Wales	2023–

List of shadow cabinets

Summary

Date	Official Opposition	Assembly/ Senedd	Seats			Governments
			Labour	Plaid Cymru	Conser­vative
Wigley shadow cabinet	18 May 1999	1st	28	17	9	Michael (Labour minority) Interim Morgan (Labour minority)
Jones shadow cabinet	9 August 2000		28	17	9	Interim Morgan (Labour minority) Morgan I (Labour – LD)
	May 2003	2nd	30	12	11	Morgan II (Labour majority until 2005 [5] ), minority after 2005 [n 1]
Bourne shadow cabinet	May 2007	3rd	26	15	12	Morgan III (Labour minority) Morgan IV (Labour – Plaid) Jones I (Labour – Plaid)
First Andrew RT Davies shadow cabinet	July 2011	4th	30	11	14	Jones II (Labour minority)
Wood shadow cabinet	May 2016	5th	29	12	11	Jones III (Labour–LD minority, Lib Dem coalition)
None	14 October 2016		29	11	11
Second Andrew RT Davies shadow cabinet	6 April 2017		29	11	12
Paul Davies shadow cabinet	27 June 2018		29	10	12
						Drakeford I (Labour–LD–IND majority)
Third Andrew RT Davies shadow cabinet	23 January 2021		29	10	11
None	29 March 2021		29	10	10
Fourth Andrew RT Davies shadow cabinet	27 May 2021	6th	30	13	16	Drakeford II (Labour minority) Gething (Labour minority) Eluned Morgan (Labour minority)
Millar shadow cabinet	12 December 2024		30	13	15	Eluned Morgan (Labour minority)
None	20 January 2026		29	13	13

2016 Plaid-Conservative Shadow Cabinets

At the 2016 election, Plaid Cymru, led by Leanne Wood, won 12 seats to the Welsh Conservatives' 11, and thus became the largest party not in government. On 14 October 2016 Dafydd Elis-Thomas left Plaid Cymru to sit as an independent, so that Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Conservatives both held 11 seats. During this period, Wood was not referred to as Leader of the Opposition, but merely as leader of Plaid Cymru. ^[6] The Conservative group grew to 12 when Mark Reckless defected from UKIP to the Conservative group on 6 April 2017, and the Welsh Conservative leader, Andrew RT Davies at the time, was referred to as Leader of the Opposition once more. ^[7]

See also

• Gething government

References

1. Mansfield, Mark (12 December 2024). "New Welsh Conservative leader announces top team". Nation.Cymru. Retrieved 3 May 2025.
2. Mansfield, Mark (4 April 2025). "Darren Millar announces changes to shadow cabinet". Nation.Cymru. Retrieved 3 May 2025.
3. "Plaid Cymru: Rhun ap Iorwerth elected leader unopposed". BBC News. 16 June 2023. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
4. "Rhun ap Iorwerth announces make up of Plaid Cymru's new Senedd team". Nation.Cymru. 27 June 2023. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
5. Morgan, Rhodri (2017). A Political Life in Wales and Westminster (First ed.). University of Wales Press. p. 259. ISBN   978-1-78683-147-7.
6. "The Record of Proceedings - 18/10/2016". Senedd Cymru.
7. "The Record of Proceedings - 02/05/2017". Senedd Cymru.

1. With the Presiding and Deputy Presiding Officer both coming from the opposition Labour had 30 voting members to the oppositions collective 28. This government officially became a minority government in 2005 after Peter Law left Labour to sit as an independent on the opposition benches, giving the government 29 and the opposition (excluding the Presiding Officer and Deputy) 29.