Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
| Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of | Opposition Shadow Cabinet |
| Appointer | Leader of the Opposition |
| Website | [1] |
The Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is an office within British politics held by a member of His Majesty's Loyal Opposition. The duty of the office holder is to scrutinise the actions of the government's Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and develop alternative policies.
List of Shadow Secretaries
[edit]
Shadow Minister of Pensions and National Insurance[edit] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Entered office | Left office | Political party | Shadow Cabinet | ||
| Hilary Marquand | 
|
15 July 1955 | November 1959 | Labour | Clement Attlee | |
| Gaitskell | ||||||
| Douglas Houghton | 
|
November 1959 | 21 February 1963 | Labour | ||
| Brown | ||||||
| Dick Mitchison |
|
21 February 1963 | 16 October 1964 | Labour | Wilson | |
| Richard Wood |
|
16 October 1964 | 29 October 1964 | Conservative | Douglas-Home | |
| Margaret Thatcher | 
|
29 October 1964[1] | 6 October 1965[2] | Conservative | ||
| Heath | ||||||
| Charles Longbottom |
|
6 October 1965 | 13 April 1966 | Conservative | ||
Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Services[edit] | ||||||
| See Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Services | ||||||
Shadow Secretary of State for Social Security[edit] | ||||||
| Michael Meacher | 
|
2 November 1989 | 18 July 1992 | Labour | Kinnock | |
| Donald Dewar | 
|
18 July 1992 | 19 October 1995 | Labour | Smith | |
| Beckett | ||||||
| Blair | ||||||
| Chris Smith | 
|
19 October 1995 | 1 July 1996 | Labour | ||
| Harriet Harman | 
|
1 July 1996 | 2 May 1997 | Labour | ||
| Peter Lilley | 
|
2 May 1997 | 19 June 1997 | Conservative | Major | |
| Iain Duncan Smith | 
|
19 June 1997 | 15 June 1999 | Conservative | Hague | |
| David Willetts | 
|
15 June 1999 | 14 September 2001 | Conservative | ||
Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions[edit] | ||||||
| David Willetts |
|
14 September 2001 | 6 May 2005 | Conservative | Duncan Smith | |
| Howard | ||||||
| Malcolm Rifkind | .jpg)
|
6 May 2005 | 6 December 2005 | Conservative | ||
| Philip Hammond | 
|
6 December 2005 | 2 July 2007 | Conservative | Cameron | |
| Chris Grayling | 
|
2 July 2007 | 19 January 2009 | Conservative | ||
| Theresa May | 
|
19 January 2009 | 11 May 2010 | Conservative | ||
| Yvette Cooper | 
|
11 May 2010 | 8 October 2010 | Labour | Harman I | |
| Douglas Alexander | 
|
8 October 2010 | 20 January 2011 | Labour | Miliband | |
| Liam Byrne | 
|
20 January 2011 | 7 October 2013 | Labour | ||
| Rachel Reeves | 
|
7 October 2013 | 8 June 2015 | Labour | ||
| Stephen Timms Acting |
|
8 June 2015 | 13 September 2015 | Labour | Harman II | |
| Owen Smith | 
|
14 September 2015 | 27 June 2016 | Labour | Corbyn | |
| Debbie Abrahams | 
|
27 June 2016 | 11 March 2018 | Labour | ||
| Margaret Greenwood | 
|
11 March 2018 | 6 April 2020 | Labour | ||
| Jonathan Reynolds | 
|
6 April 2020 | 29 November 2021 | Labour & Co-op | Starmer | |
| Jonathan Ashworth | 
|
29 November 2021 | 4 September 2023 | Labour & Co-op | ||
| Liz Kendall | 
|
4 September 2023 | 5 July 2024 | Labour | ||
| Mel Stride | 
|
8 July 2024 | 4 November 2024 | Conservative | Sunak | |
| Helen Whately | 
|
5 November 2024 | Incumbent | Conservative | Badenoch | |
References
[edit]- ^ 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.
- ^ "Heath's Second Team". The Glasgow Herald. 6 October 1965. p. 18. Retrieved 16 April 2025.