Shadow Leader
of the House of Commons
Incumbent
Lucy Powell
since 4 September 2023
AppointerLeader of the Opposition
WebsiteThe Shadow Cabinet

The Shadow Leader of the House of Commons is a member of the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet responsible for working with the Leader of the House in arranging Commons business and holding the Government to account in its overall management of the House. The Shadow Leader also responds to the Business Statement of Leader of House each Thursday, though the Leader of the Opposition exercised this role until the late 1980s. The office is roughly equivalent to the Shadow Leader of the House of Lords.

Shadow Leaders (British Parliament)

Name Portrait Took office Left office Political party Leader of the Opposition
Herbert Morrison[1] 1951 c. 1955 Labour Clement Attlee
Unknown Labour Hugh Gaitskell
George Brown
Harold Wilson
Selwyn Lloyd 16 October 1964[n 1] 4 August 1965[5] Conservative Alec Douglas-Home
Unknown/Vacant[n 2] 4 August 1965 19 June 1970 Conservative Edward Heath
Fred Peart 19 June 1970[n 3] 16 December 1971 Labour Harold Wilson
Michael Foot 16 December 1971[7] 6 December 1972 Labour
Edward Short 6 December 1972[8] 4 March 1974 Labour
James Prior 4 March 1974[9] 29 October 1974 Conservative Edward Heath
John Peyton 29 October 1974[10] 19 November 1976 Conservative
Margaret Thatcher
Francis Pym 19 November 1976[11] Approx. 20 November 1978[n 4] Conservative
Norman St John-Stevas Approx. 20 November 1978[n 4] 5 May 1979 Conservative
Michael Foot 4 May 1979[15] 8 December 1980 Labour James Callaghan
John Silkin 8 December 1980[16] 30 October 1983 Labour Michael Foot
Peter Shore 30 October 1983[17] 13 July 1987 Labour Neil Kinnock
Frank Dobson 13 July 1987[18] 2 November 1989 Labour
John Cunningham 2 November 1989[19] 24 July 1992 Labour
Margaret Beckett 24 July 1992[20] 13 May 1994 Labour John Smith
Nick Brown
(Acting) 		13 May 1994[21] 21 July 1994 Labour Margaret Beckett
Margaret Beckett 21 July 1994 20 October 1994 Labour Tony Blair
Ann Taylor 20 October 1994[22] 2 May 1997 Labour
Alastair Goodlad May 1997[23] 30 June 1997 Conservative John Major
Gillian Shephard 30 June 1997[24] 2 June 1998 Conservative William Hague
Sir George Young 1 June 1998[25] 22 September 2000[26] Conservative
Angela Browning 26 September 2000 [27] 18 September 2001 Conservative
Eric Forth 18 September 2001[28] 10 November 2003 Conservative Iain Duncan Smith
Oliver Heald 10 November 2003[29] 10 May 2005 Conservative Michael Howard
Chris Grayling 10 May 2005[30] 8 December 2005 Conservative
Theresa May 8 December 2005[31] 19 January 2009 Conservative David Cameron
Alan Duncan 19 January 2009[32] 7 September 2009[33] Conservative
Sir George Young 8 September 2009[34] 11 May 2010 Conservative
Rosie Winterton 12 May 2010 8 October 2010 Labour Harriet Harman
Hilary Benn 8 October 2010 7 October 2011[35] Labour Ed Miliband
Angela Eagle 7 October 2011[35] 13 September 2015 Labour
Harriet Harman
Chris Bryant 13 September 2015 26 June 2016 Labour Jeremy Corbyn
Paul Flynn 4 July 2016 6 October 2016 Labour
Valerie Vaz 6 October 2016 9 May 2021 Labour
Sir Keir Starmer
Thangam Debbonaire 9 May 2021 4 September 2023 Labour
Notes
  1. ^ Lloyd was Leader of the House before the Conservatives lost the 1964 election and was "retained" in the portfolio of "co-ordination of the Opposition in the Commons.[2] It is not clear whether the Conservative party at this point used the term "Shadow Leader" to describe the job,[3] but the term was used.[4]
  2. ^ Edward Heath reshuffled the Conservative front bench after being elected leader in the summer of 1964, though he rejected the term "Shadow Cabinet" and instituted a "federal system", three Shadow ministers being in charge of a general area (foreign, economic, and home affairs). For example, Alec Douglas-Home headed foreign affairs, sitting above the Shadow Foreign and Defence Secretaries. The former members of the Shadow Cabinet remained, but three members had no specific responsibilities.[6] It is unclear whether Heath himself was in effect Shadow Leader of the House, as would have been common before the Second World War, or the responsibilities were assigned to one or more shadow ministers.
  3. ^ Peart was Leader of the House going into Labour's election loss on 18 June 1970 and left the role of Shadow Leader of the House on 16 December 1971.[7] There is no evidence that anyone else served as Shadow Leader between those dates.
  4. ^ a b In October 1978, Pym was made Shadow Foreign Secretary,[12] and St John-Stevas succeeded him.[13][14]

References

  1. ^ William Rees-Mogg (13 July 2009). "This Bill is a panic measure in a tarnished age". The Times.
  2. ^ "The Team Change". The Glasgow Herald. 17 February 1965.
  3. ^ 31 March 1969 c 128.
  4. ^ 21 May 1968 c 455.
  5. ^ "Mr Heath's Team". The Glasgow Herald. 5 August 1965. p. 8.
  6. ^ "Unity seen factor in Heath "cabinet" choices". Saskatoon Star-Phoenix. Associated Press. 5 August 1965.
  7. ^ a b Warden, John (17 December 1971). "Wilson Gives Foot Key Market Role". The Glasgow Herald. p. 22. Retrieved 18 January 2011.
  8. ^ Russell, William (7 December 1972). "Wilson Gives Shore Key Prices Post". The Glasgow Herald. p. 16. Retrieved 18 January 2011.
  9. ^ "Higher Allowances for MPs". The Glasgow Herald. 22 May 1974. p. 2. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  10. ^ "New Tory Post for Whitelaw". The Age. 30 October 1974. p. 6. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  11. ^ Grigg, Joseph W (20 November 1976). "British Opposition Names New Spokesmen". St Petersburg Times. p. 8A. Retrieved 18 January 2011.
  12. ^ Geoffrey Parkhouse (7 November 1978). "Pym favourite for top Thatcher post". The Glasgow Herald. p. 1.
  13. ^ House of Commons Debates 21 November 1979 c 1092. (The Prime Minister, James Callaghan, welcoming St John-Stevas to "his new post").
  14. ^ House of Commons Debates 7 December 1979 c 1698. (St John-Stevas referring to his appointment as Shadow Leader).
  15. ^ Pankhouse, Geoffrey (15 June 1979). "Shore Steps Up as Owen Is Demoted". The Glasgow Herald. p. 1. Retrieved 18 January 2011.
  16. ^ Russell, William (9 December 1980). "Foot's Soft Shoe Reshuffle". The Glasgow Herald. p. 6. Retrieved 18 January 2011.
  17. ^ Pankhouse, Geoffrey (1 November 1983). "Protest by Nationalists as Dewar Takes Over". The Glasgow Herald. p. 7. Retrieved 18 January 2011.
  18. ^ Hernon, Ian (13 July 1987). "Kinnock Cashes in on the Scots". Evening Times. p. 7. Retrieved 18 January 2011.
  19. ^ Pankhouse, Geoffrey (2 November 1989). "Kinnock Splits his Top Treasury Team". The Glasgow Herald. p. 7. Retrieved 18 January 2011.
  20. ^ Timms, Nicholas (25 July 1992). "Smith Revamps Shadow Cabinet". The Independent. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  21. ^ MacIntyre, Donald (13 July 1994). "Commons inquiry to cover all MPs' fees". The Independent. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  22. ^ Timms, Nicholas (21 October 1994). "Blair uses reshuffle to put own stamp 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.
  23. ^ "BBC Election 97: The Shadow Cabinet". BBC News. Archived from the original on 3 February 1999.
  24. ^ "Opposition Front Bench". Weekly Information Bulletin. House of Commons Information Office. 5 July 1997.
  25. ^ "Hague Reshuffles Shadow Cabinet". BBC News. 1 June 1998. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  26. ^ Grice, Andrew (23 September 2000). "George Young to stand for Speaker". The Independent. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  27. ^ Woolf, Marie (27 September 2000). "Hague Puts Thatcher Adviser on Front Bench". The Independent. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  28. ^ Jones, George (19 September 2001). "I'll Never Scrap the Pound, Says Duncan Smith". The Telegraph. London. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  29. ^ "Shadow Roles for Region's MPs". Cambridge City News. 11 November 2003. Archived from the original on 25 September 2012. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  30. ^ "Howard Reshuffles Top Tory Team". BBC News. 10 May 2005. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  31. ^ Assinder, Nick (8 December 2005). "Cameron Forges Fresh Team". BBC News. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  32. ^ "Clarke Returns to Shadow Cabinet". The Scotsman. 19 January 2009. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  33. ^ "Tory 'Rations' MP Demoted". BBC News. 7 September 2009. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  34. ^ "George Young replaces Alan Duncan as shadow leader of Commons". The Telegraph. London. 8 September 2009. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  35. ^ a b "Alan Johnson Leads Shadow Cabinet Appointments". Channel 4. 8 October 2010. Retrieved 18 July 2011.

See also

Category