Shadow Secretary of State for Transport

Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
Incumbent Richard Holden since 22 July 2025
Shadow Cabinet of the United Kingdom
Reports to	Leader of the Opposition
Appointer	Leader of the Opposition
Website	The Shadow Cabinet

The shadow secretary of state for transport is a political post in the United Kingdom. It has been consistently held by a member of the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet since May 1979. The shadow secretary helps hold the transport secretary and junior ministers to account and is the lead spokesperson on transport matters for their party. Should the relevant party take office, the shadow secretary would be a likely candidate to become the transport secretary.

At various times, the post has been called Shadow Minister for Transport (including from 1979 to 1981), Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, Shadow Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, and Shadow Secretary of State for Environment and Transport.

Shadow secretaries of state

Name			Took office	Left office	Political party	Shadow Cabinet
	George Strauss		15 July 1955	16 November 1959 [1]	Labour	Attlee
						Gaitskell
	Tony Benn		16 November 1959	28 November 1960	Labour
	George Strauss		28 November 1960	16 October 1964	Labour
						Brown
						Wilson
	Ernest Marples		16 October 1964	29 October 1964	Conservative	Douglas-Home
	Enoch Powell		29 October 1964	4 August 1965	Conservative
	Martin Redmayne		4 August 1965	19 April 1966	Conservative	Heath
	Peter Walker		19 April 1966	14 November 1968	Conservative
	Margaret Thatcher		14 November 1968	21 October 1969	Conservative
	Peter Walker		21 October 1969	19 June 1970	Conservative
	Fred Mulley		19 June 1970	4 March 1974	Labour	Wilson II
	Unknown		4 March 1974	15 January 1976	Conservative	Heath II
						Thatcher
	Norman Fowler		15 January 1976 [2]	4 May 1979	Conservative
	William Rodgers		4 May 1979	14 June 1979	Labour	Callaghan
	Albert Booth [3] [n 1]		14 June 1979	September 1981	Labour
						Foot
Shadow Secretary			Took office	Left office	Political party	Shadow Cabinet
	Albert Booth		September 1981	31 October 1983	Labour	Foot
	John Prescott [4]		31 October 1983	26 October 1984	Labour	Kinnock
	Gwyneth Dunwoody [5]		26 October 1984	4 November 1985	Labour
	Robert Hughes [6]		4 November 1985	23 November 1988	Labour
	John Prescott		23 November 1988	21 October 1993	Labour
						Smith
	Frank Dobson [7]		21 October 1993	20 October 1994	Labour
						Beckett
	Michael Meacher [8]		20 October 1994	19 October 1995	Labour	Blair
	Clare Short [9]		19 October 1995	25 July 1996	Labour
	Andrew Smith [10] [11]		25 July 1996	2 May 1997	Labour
	Sir George Young [12]		2 May 1997	June 1997	Conservative	Major
Name			Took office	Left office	Political party	Shadow Cabinet
	Norman Fowler		June 1997	1 June 1998	Conservative	Hague
	Gillian Shepherd [13]		1 June 1998	14 June 1999	Conservative
	John Redwood [14]		14 June 1999	2 February 2000	Conservative
	Archie Norman		2 February 2000	18 September 2001	Conservative
Name			Took office	Left office	Political party	Shadow Cabinet
	Theresa May [15] [16]		18 September 2001	23 July 2002	Conservative	Duncan Smith
Name			Took office	Left office	Political party	Shadow Cabinet
	Tim Collins [17]		23 July 2002	10 November 2003	Conservative	Duncan Smith
	Damian Green [n 2]		10 November 2003	8 September 2004	Conservative	Howard
Name			Took office	Left office	Political party	Shadow Cabinet
	Tim Yeo [19]		8 September 2004	10 May 2005	Conservative	Howard
Name			Took office	Left office	Political party	Shadow Cabinet
	Alan Duncan [20]		6 May 2005	8 December 2005	Conservative	Howard
	Chris Grayling [21]		8 December 2005	2 July 2007	Conservative	Cameron
	Theresa Villiers [22]		2 July 2007	11 May 2010	Conservative
	Sadiq Khan [23]		14 May 2010	8 October 2010	Labour	Harman
	Maria Eagle [24]		8 October 2010	7 October 2013	Labour	Miliband
	Mary Creagh [25]		7 October 2013	5 November 2014	Labour
	Michael Dugher [26]		5 November 2014	13 September 2015	Labour
						Harman II
	Lilian Greenwood		13 September 2015	26 June 2016	Labour	Corbyn
	Andy McDonald		27 June 2016	6 April 2020	Labour
	Jim McMahon		6 April 2020	29 November 2021	Labour	Starmer
	Louise Haigh		29 November 2021	5 July 2024	Labour
	Helen Whately		8 July 2024	5 November 2024	Conservative	Sunak
	Gareth Bacon		5 November 2024	22 July 2025	Conservative	Badenoch
	Richard Holden		22 July 2025	Incumbent	Conservative

Notes

1. Booth was Shadow Minister of Transport until September 1981, when the Minister of Transport became Secretary of State for Transport.
2. During this period, Michael Howard had a small Shadow Cabinet, with members heading "super" Shadow Departments. The Shadow Transport Secretary was part of the Shadow Environment and Transport team, which was headed by the Shadow Secretary of State for Environment and Transport. Theresa May first held thislatter office, and was replaced by Tim Yeo on 14 June 2004. ^[18] When Damian Green resigned from the frontbench during a reshuffle on 8 September 2004, Yeo took on his responsibilities. ^[19]

References

1. 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. Retrieved 18 April 2025.
2. William Russell (16 January 1976). "Mrs Thatcher drops Younger in reshuffle". The Glasgow Herald. p. 1.
3. Parkhouse, Geoffrey (15 June 1979). "Shore steps up as Owen is demoted". The Glasgow Herald. p. 1.
4. Parkhouse, Geoffrey (1 November 1983). "Protest by Nationalists as Dewar takes over". The Glasgow Herald. p. 7.
5. Parkhouse, Geoffrey (27 October 1984). "Smith chosen to shadow Tebbit". The Glasgow Herald. p. 1.
6. Trotter, Stuart (5 November 1985). "Transport job goes to Hugues". The Glasgow Herald. p. 7.
7. Timmins, Nicholas (25 July 1992). "Smith revamps Shadow Cabinet: Nicholas Timmins analyses the Labour line-up and looks at the backgrounds of the newcomers". The Independent . London. Retrieved 2 June 2011.
8. Timms, Nicholas (21 October 1994). "Blair uses reshuffle to put own sta on Shadow Cabinet: Brown stays as shadow Chancellor—Cook takes foreign affairs—Straw is shadow Home Secretary—Beckett moves to health". The Independent. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
9. "New MPs promoted by Blair". The Independent. 22 October 1995. Retrieved 26 July 2011.
10. "Opposition Front Bench Spokespersons 1996/97". Weekly Information Bulletin. House of Commons Information Office. 26 October 1996. Retrieved 26 July 2011.
11. Rentoul, John (26 July 1996). "A rare national treasure in peril". The Independent.
12. "Opposition Frontbench Spokespersons as at 13 May 1997 (Interim List)". Weekly Information Bulletin. House of Commons Information Office. Retrieved 1 October 2011.
13. "Hague reshuffles shadow cabinet". BBC News. 1 June 1998. Retrieved 10 March 2013.
14. "Lilley sacked in Hague reshuffle". The Guardian. 15 June 1999. Retrieved 10 March 2013.
15. "Eurosceptics prosper under Duncan Smith". BBC News. 14 September 2001. Retrieved 10 March 2013.
16. "Opposition Front Bench Team as at 16 October 2001". Weekly Information Bulletin. House of Commons Information Office. 20 October 2001. Retrieved 10 March 2013.
17. "Tory shadow cabinet". The Telegraph. 23 July 2002. Retrieved 10 March 2013.
18. "Howard reshuffles his Tory team". BBC News. 14 June 2004. Retrieved 10 March 2013.
19. "Redwood returns to Tory frontline". BBC News. 8 September 2004. Retrieved 10 March 2013.
20. "Howard reshuffles top Tory team". BBC News. 10 May 2005. Retrieved 10 March 2013.
21. "At-a-glance: New shadow cabinet". BBC News. 8 December 2005. Retrieved 10 March 2013.
22. "In full: Cameron's shadow cabinet". BBC News. 2 July 2007. Retrieved 10 March 2013.
23. "EXCLUSIVE: 'Bitter-sweet' promotion for Sadiq Khan MP". Wandsworth Guardian. 14 May 2010. Retrieved 10 March 2013.
24. Prince, Rosa (8 October 2010). "Ed Miliband unveils shocks in shadow cabinet selections". The Telegraph. Retrieved 10 March 2013.
25. Owen, Paul (7 October 2013). "Coalition government and Labour reshuffle". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
26. "Labour reshuffle: Dugher and Powell promoted by Ed Miliband". BBC News. 5 November 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2014.