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Shadow Foreign Secretary

{{short description|UK shadow cabinet position}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Infobox Political post

| post = Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs

| body =

| nativename =

| department = Shadow Cabinet

| image = Official portrait of Rt Hon Priti Patel MP.jpg

| alt =

| incumbent = Dame Priti Patel

| incumbentsince = 4 November 2024

| style =

| residence =

| nominator =

| nominatorpost =

| appointer = Leader of the Opposition

| appointerpost =

| termlength =

| inaugural = Alfred Robens

| formation = 14 December 1955

| last =

| abolished =

| succession =

| deputy =

| salary =

| website =

}}

The shadow secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, commonly called the shadow foreign secretary, is a position within the UK official opposition shadow cabinet that deals mainly with issues surrounding the Foreign Office. If elected, the person serving as shadow foreign secretary may be designated to serve as the new foreign secretary.

The current Shadow Secretary of State of foreign, commonwealth and development affairs is Priti Patel. The shadow secretary (usually with one or more junior shadow ministers) holds the secretary of state for foreign, commonwealth and development affairs and other FCDO ministers to account in Parliament.

Although DFID and the role of international development secretary were abolished by the second Johnson government in 2020, the shadow secretary of state did not have responsibility for development until Lammy was appointed in November 2021. His predecessor, Lisa Nandy, served alongside the shadow secretary of state for international development, Preet Gill. This however is no longer the case after the November 2021 British shadow cabinet reshuffle.

List of shadow foreign secretaries

class="wikitable" style="width:60%;"

! colspan=2|Name

! width=60|Portrait

! colspan=2|Term of office

! Political party

! Shadow Cabinet

style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |

| rowspan="2" | Alfred Robens

| rowspan="2" | 60px

| rowspan="2" | 15 July 1955{{cite news |title=McNeil is Not on Attlee's List |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V28-AAAAIBAJ&dq=shadow+Bevan+labour&pg=PA7&article_id=7133,1196598 |access-date=15 April 2025 |work=The Bulletin |date=15 July 1955}}

| rowspan="2" | 27 November 1956

| rowspan="2" | Labour

| Attlee II

style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |

| rowspan="4" |Gaitskell

style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |

| Aneurin Bevan

| 60px

| 27 November 1956{{cite news |title=Bevan Ousts Robens as Foreign Chief |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wDVBAAAAIBAJ&dq=shadow+George+Brown+labour&pg=PA4&article_id=1619,4423145 |access-date=15 April 2025 |work=The Bulletin |date=28 November 1956 |page=4}}

| 6 July 1960

| Labour

style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |

| Denis Healey

| 60px

| 7 July 1960

| 30 November 1961{{cite news |title=Wilson - Foreign Spokesman |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GuVAAAAAIBAJ&dq=shadow+Harold+Wilson&pg=PA1&article_id=3644,3759254 |access-date=28 April 2025 |work=Evening Times |date=30 November 1961 |page=1}}

| Labour

style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |

| rowspan="2" |Harold Wilson

| rowspan="2" |60px

| rowspan="2" |30 November 1961

| rowspan="2" |22 February 1963

| rowspan="2" |Labour

style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |

| Brown

style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |

| Patrick Gordon Walker

| 60px

| 22 February 1963

| 15 October 1964

| Labour

|Wilson I

style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |

| R. A. Butler

| 60px

| 15 October 1964

| 16 February 1965{{cite book |last=Baston |first=Lewis |date=2004 |title=Reggie: The Life of Reginald Maudling |publisher=Sutton Publishing |page=246 |isbn=0-7509-2924-3}}

| Conservative

| rowspan="2" |Douglas-Home

style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |

| Reginald Maudling

| 60px

| 16 February 1965

| 4 August 1965{{cite news |title=Party unify seen factor in Heath "cabinet" choices |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fS9gAAAAIBAJ&dq=shadow+cabinet&pg=PA7&article_id=7119,451640 |access-date=16 April 2025 |work=Saskatoon Star-Phoenix |agency=Associated Press |date=5 August 1965 |location=London}}

| Conservative

style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |

| Christopher Soames

| 60px

| 4 August 1965

| 13 April 1966

| Conservative

| rowspan="2" |Heath I

style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |

| Alec Douglas-Home

| 60px

| 13 April 1966

| 19 June 1970

| Conservative

style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |

| Michael Stewart

| 70px

| 19 June 1970

| 24 July 1970

| Labour

| rowspan="3" |Wilson II

style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |

| Denis Healey

| 60px

| 24 July 1970

| 19 April 1972

| Labour

style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |

| James Callaghan

| 60px

| 19 April 1972

| 4 March 1974

| Labour

style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |

| Alec Douglas-Home

| 60px

| 4 March 1974

| August 1974

| Conservative

| rowspan="2" |Heath II

style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |

| Geoffrey Rippon

| 60px

| August 1974

| 11 February 1975

| Conservative

style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |

| Reginald Maudling

| 60px

| 11 February 1975

| 11 April 1976

| Conservative

| rowspan="3" |Thatcher

style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |

| John Davies

|

| 11 April 1976

| 6 November 1978

| Conservative

style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |

| Francis Pym{{efn|Following Davies' resignation, it was announced that Pym would lead the two-day debate on Rhodesia for the Conservatives.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=3gI-AAAAIBAJ&sjid=dUkMAAAAIBAJ&pg=2596,1335047&dq=john+davies&hl=en |title=Pym favourite for top Thatcher post |work=The Glasgow Herald |date=7 November 1978 |author=Geoffrey Parkhouse |page=1}} By approximately 20 November, Norman St John-Stevas had replaced him as Shadow Leader of the House of Commons, and Pym continued as Shadow Foreign Secretary through the end of the Parliament in 1979.}}

| 60px

| 6 November 1978

| 4 May 1979

| Conservative

style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |

| David Owen

| 60px

| 4 May 1979

| 14 July 1979

| Labour

| rowspan="2" |Callaghan

style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |

| Peter Shore

|

| 14 July 1979

| 8 December 1980

| Labour

rowspan="2" style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |

| rowspan="2" |Denis Healey

| rowspan="2" |60px

| rowspan="2" |8 December 1980

| rowspan="2" |13 June 1987

| rowspan="2" |Labour

| Foot

rowspan="2" |Kinnock
style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |

| Gerald Kaufman

| 60px

| 13 June 1987

| 24 July 1992

| Labour

rowspan="2" style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |

| rowspan="2" |Jack Cunningham

| rowspan="2" |60px

| rowspan="2" |24 July 1992

| rowspan="2" |20 October 1994

| rowspan="2" |Labour

|Smith

Beckett
style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |

| Robin Cook

| 60px

| 20 October 1994

| 2 May 1997

| Labour

|Blair

style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |

| John Major

| 60px

| 7 May 1997

| 11 June 1997

|Conservative

|Major

style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |

| Michael Howard

| 60px

| 11 June 1997

| 15 June 1999

| Conservative

| rowspan="3" |Hague

style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |

| John Maples

|

| 15 June 1999

| 2 February 2000

| Conservative

style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |

| Francis Maude

| 60px

| 2 February 2000

| 18 September 2001

| Conservative

rowspan="2" style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |

| rowspan="2" |Michael Ancram

| rowspan="2" |60px

| rowspan="2" |18 September 2001

| rowspan="2" |10 May 2005

| rowspan="2" |Conservative

| Duncan Smith

rowspan="2" |Howard
style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |

| Liam Fox

| 60px

| 10 May 2005

| 6 December 2005

| Conservative

style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |

| William Hague

| 60px

| 6 December 2005

| 11 May 2010

| Conservative

|Cameron

style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |

| David Miliband

| 60px

| 11 May 2010

| 8 October 2010

| Labour

|Harman I

style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |

|Yvette Cooper

|60px

|8 October 2010

|20 January 2011

|Labour

| rowspan="2" |Miliband

style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |

|Douglas Alexander

|60px

|20 January 2011

|11 May 2015

|Labour

rowspan="2" style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |

| rowspan="2" |Hilary Benn

| rowspan="2" |60px

| rowspan="2" |11 May 2015

| rowspan="2" |26 June 2016

| rowspan="2" |Labour

| Harman II

rowspan="2" |Corbyn
style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |

|Emily Thornberry

|60px

|27 June 2016

|5 April 2020

|Labour

style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |

|Lisa Nandy

|60px

|5 April 2020

|29 November 2021

|Labour

| rowspan="2" |Starmer

style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |

|David Lammy

|60px

|29 November 2021

|5 July 2024

|Labour

style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |

|Andrew Mitchell

|60px

|8 July 2024

|4 November 2024

|Conservative

|Sunak

style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |

|Dame Priti Patel

|60px

|4 November 2024

|Incumbent

|Conservative

|Badenoch

Notes

{{notelist}}

References

{{reflist}}

{{Shadow Foreign Secretaries}}

{{Shadow Great Officers of State}}

{{UK Parliament Opposition Cabinet Offices}}

Category:Official Opposition (United Kingdom)

{{UK-poli-stub}}