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Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (United Kingdom)
Opposition cabinet of the United Kingdom
Opposition cabinet of the United Kingdom
The Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet, or His Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition Shadow Cabinet, 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.
Composition
Shadow Cabinet members, commonly known as shadow ministers, are usually appointed by the leader of the Opposition (currently Kemi Badenoch). 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.
Not all opposition frontbenchers are members of the Shadow Cabinet, which is composed of the most senior opposition members (usually they number around twenty).
The leader of the Opposition, the Opposition chief whip and Opposition deputy chief whip are the only members of the Official Opposition in the House of Commons to be paid for their opposition roles in addition to their salaries as members of Parliament. The leader of the Opposition and the Opposition chief whip in the House of Lords also receive a salary.
Other parties may also form frontbench teams of spokespeople which may be referred to as shadow cabinets by the party (e.g. the Liberal Democrats in 2019), but these are not part of the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet.
Current Shadow Cabinet
, the members of the shadow cabinet are:
| Shadow Minister | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Constituency | Office(s) | Shadows | Shadow Cabinet ministers | |
| [[File:Official portrait of Kemi Badenoch MP crop 2, 2024.jpg | 139x139px]] | Kemi Badenoch | Leader of the Opposition | Prime Minister |
| [[File:Official portrait of Mel Stride MP crop 2, 2024.jpg | 138x138px]] | Mel Stride | Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer | Chancellor of the Exchequer |
| [[File:Priti Patel Official Cabinet Portrait, September 2021 (cropped).jpg | 138x138px]] | Priti Patel | Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs | Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs |
| [[File:Official portrait of Chris Philp MP crop 2, 2024.jpg | 139x139px]] | Chris Philp | Shadow Home Secretary | Home Secretary |
| [[File:Official portrait of James Cartlidge MP crop 2, 2024.jpg | 139x139px]] | James Cartlidge | Shadow Secretary of State for Defence | Secretary of State for Defence |
| [[File:Official portrait of Nick Timothy MP crop 2.jpg | 139x139px]] | Nick Timothy | Shadow Lord Chancellor | |
| Shadow Secretary of State for Justice | Lord Chancellor | |||
| Secretary of State for Justice | ||||
| [[File:Official portrait of Julia Lopez MP crop 2, 2024.jpg | 138x138px]] | Julia Lopez | Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology | Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology |
| [[File:Official portrait of Stuart Andrew crop 2, 2021.jpg | 138x138px]] | Stuart Andrew | Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care | Secretary of State for Health and Social Care |
| [[File:Official portrait of James Cleverly MP crop 2, 2024.jpg | 138x138px]] | James Cleverly | Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government | Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government |
| [[File:Victoria Atkins Official Cabinet Portrait, November 2023 (cropped).jpg | 139x139px]] | Victoria Atkins | Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs |
| [[File:Official portrait of Rt Hon Jesse Norman MP crop 2.jpg | 139x139px]] | Jesse Norman | Shadow Leader of the House of Commons | Leader of the House of Commons |
| [[File:Lord True Official Cabinet Portrait, October 2022 (cropped).jpg | 139x139px]] | The Lord True | Shadow Leader of the House of Lords | Leader of the House of Lords |
| [[File:Official portrait of Andrew Griffith MP crop 2, 2024.jpg | 139x139px]] | Andrew Griffith | Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade | Secretary of State for Business and Trade |
| [[File:Official portrait of Claire Coutinho MP crop 2, 2024.jpg | 139x139px]] | Claire Coutinho | Shadow Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero | Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero |
| [[File:Official portrait of Helen Whately MP crop 2, 2024.jpg | 139x139px]] | Helen Whately | Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions | Secretary of State for Work and Pensions |
| [[File:Laura Trott Official Cabinet Portrait, November 2023 (cropped).jpg | 139x139px]] | Laura Trott | Shadow Secretary of State for Education | Secretary of State for Education |
| [[File:Richard Holden Official Cabinet Portrait, November 2023 (cropped).jpg | 139x139px]] | Richard Holden | Shadow Secretary of State for Transport | Secretary of State for Transport |
| Shadow Paymaster General | Paymaster General | Nick Thomas-Symonds | ||
| [[File:Official portrait of Nigel Huddleston MP crop 2, 2024.jpg | 138x138px]] | Nigel Huddleston | Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport | Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport |
| [[File:Official portrait of Alex Burghart crop 2.jpg | 139x139px]] | Alex Burghart | Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland | Secretary of State for Northern Ireland |
| Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster | Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster | Darren Jones | ||
| [[File:Official portrait of Andrew Bowie MP crop 2.jpg | 139x139px]] | Andrew Bowie | Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland | Secretary of State for Scotland |
| [[File:Mims Davies.jpg | 139x139px]] | Mims Davies | Shadow Secretary of State for Wales | Secretary of State for Wales |
| [[File:Official portrait of Rebecca Harris MP crop 2.jpg | 139x139px]] | Rebecca Harris | Opposition Chief Whip in the House of Commons | Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury |
| [[File:Official portrait of Richard Fuller MP crop 2, 2024.jpg | 139x139px]] | Richard Fuller | Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury | Chief Secretary to the Treasury |
References
References
- (20 May 2021). "Shadow cabinet". Institute for Government.
- (2019-12-25). "Announcing the new Lib Dem Shadow Cabinet". Liberal Democrats.
- (5 November 2024). "Who makes up Kemi Badenoch's newly-appointed shadow cabinet?". The Independent.
- Whannel, Kate. (2025-07-22). "James Cleverly gets new role as Kemi Badenoch reshuffles top team".
- "His Majesty's Government: The Cabinet - MPs and Lords - UK Parliament".
- "His Majesty's Official Opposition: The Shadow Cabinet - MPs and Lords - UK Parliament".
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