Shadow Leader of the House of Commons

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 1951 c. 1955 Labour Clement Attlee
Unknown Labour Hugh Gaitskell
George Brown
Harold Wilson
Selwyn Lloyd 16 October 1964 4 August 1965 Conservative Alec Douglas-Home
Unknown/Vacant 4 August 1965 19 June 1970 Conservative Edward Heath
Fred Peart 19 June 1970 16 December 1971 Labour Harold Wilson
Michael Foot 16 December 1971 6 December 1972 Labour
Edward Short 6 December 1972 4 March 1974 Labour
James Prior 4 March 1974 29 October 1974 Conservative Edward Heath
John Peyton 29 October 1974 19 November 1976 Conservative
Margaret Thatcher
Francis Pym 19 November 1976 Approx. 20 November 1978 Conservative
Norman St John-Stevas Approx. 20 November 1978 5 May 1979 Conservative
Michael Foot 4 May 1979 8 December 1980 Labour James Callaghan
John Silkin 8 December 1980 30 October 1983 Labour Michael Foot
Peter Shore 30 October 1983 13 July 1987 Labour Neil Kinnock
Frank Dobson 13 July 1987 2 November 1989 Labour
John Cunningham 2 November 1989 24 July 1992 Labour
Margaret Beckett 24 July 1992 13 May 1994 Labour John Smith
Nick Brown
(Acting)
13 May 1994 21 July 1994 Labour Margaret Beckett
Margaret Beckett 21 July 1994 20 October 1994 Labour Tony Blair
Ann Taylor 20 October 1994 2 May 1997 Labour
Alastair Goodlad May 1997 30 June 1997 Conservative John Major
Gillian Shephard 30 June 1997 2 June 1998 Conservative William Hague
Sir George Young 1 June 1998 22 September 2000 Conservative
Angela Browning 26 September 2000 18 September 2001 Conservative
Eric Forth 18 September 2001 10 November 2003 Conservative Iain Duncan Smith
Oliver Heald 10 November 2003 10 May 2005 Conservative Michael Howard
Chris Grayling 10 May 2005 8 December 2005 Conservative
Theresa May 8 December 2005 19 January 2009 Conservative David Cameron
Alan Duncan 19 January 2009 7 September 2009 Conservative
Sir George Young 8 September 2009 11 May 2010 Conservative
Rosie Winterton 12 May 2010 8 October 2010 Labour Harriet Harman
Hilary Benn 8 October 2010 7 October 2011 Labour Ed Miliband
Angela Eagle 7 October 2011 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. It is not clear whether the Conservative party at this point used the term "Shadow Leader" to describe the job, but the term was used.
  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. 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. 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, and St John-Stevas succeeded him.

This page was last updated at 2024-02-07 16:40 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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