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Shadow Home Secretary

{{Short description|British interior spokesperson of the official opposition}}

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

{{Infobox Political post

|post = Shadow Home Secretary

|image = Official portrait of Chris Philp MP, 2024.jpg

|incumbent = Chris Philp

|incumbentsince = 5 November 2024

|appointer = Leader of the Opposition

|inaugural = Kenneth Younger

|formation = 15 July 1955

|website =

}}

In British politics, the shadow home secretary (formally known as the shadow secretary of state for the home department) is the person within the shadow cabinet who shadows the home secretary; this effectively means scrutinising government policy on home affairs including policing, national security, and matters of citizenship. The shadow home secretary also formerly had responsibility for the criminal justice system and the prison service; these responsibilities are now held by the shadow justice secretary. If the opposition party is elected to government, the Shadow Home Secretary often becomes the new Home Secretary, though this is not always the case. The office is currently held by Chris Philp, a member of the Conservative shadow cabinet.

In recent decades, the positions of home secretary and shadow home secretary have alternated between the Conservative and Labour parties. The corresponding position for the Liberal Democrats is the Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesperson.

List of shadow home secretaries

{{incomplete list|date=September 2015}}

class="wikitable"

!colspan=2 |Name

!width=50 |Portrait

!Entered office

!Left office

!Party

!Shadow Cabinet

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

|rowspan="2" |Kenneth Younger

|rowspan="2" |60px

|rowspan="2" |15 July 1955

|rowspan="2" |24 January 1958{{cite news |title=Shadow Cabinet Changes |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1ndAAAAAIBAJ&dq=kenneth+younger+shadow&pg=PA9&article_id=2759,2688785 |access-date=19 April 2025 |work=The Glasgow Herald |date=24 January 1958 |page=9}}

|rowspan="2" {{Party shading/Labour}} | Labour

| {{Party shading/Labour Party (UK)}}| Attlee

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

| {{Party shading/Labour Party (UK)}} rowspan=3 | Gaitskell

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

|Patrick Gordon-Walker

|60px

|24 January 1958

|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}}

|{{Party shading/Labour}} | Labour

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

|rowspan="2" |George Brown

|rowspan="2" |60px

|rowspan="2" |30 November 1961

|rowspan="2" |16 October 1964{{cite book |author1=Robert Malcolm Punnett |title=Front-bench opposition; the role of the Leader of the Opposition, the Shadow Cabinet and Shadow Government in British politics |date=1973 |publisher=London |pages=458–467 |isbn=978-0-435-83734-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/frontbenchopposi0000punn/page/458/mode/1up |access-date=18 April 2025}}

|rowspan="2" {{Party shading/Labour}} | Labour

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

|{{Party shading/Labour}} | Wilson

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

|Henry Brooke

|60px

|16 October 1964

|29 October 1964{{cite news |title=Sir Alec Picks His Front Bench |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OW1AAAAAIBAJ&dq=shadow+Edward&pg=PA1&article_id=3621,4737709 |access-date=16 April 2025 |work=The Glasgow Herald |date=29 October 1964 |page=1}}

|{{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative

|rowspan="3" {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Douglas-Home

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

|Edward Boyle

|60px

|29 October 1964

|16 February 1965{{cite news |title=Sir Alec Reshuffles Shadow Cabinet |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7mJAAAAAIBAJ&dq=shadow+Anthony+Barber&pg=PA1&article_id=4366,2862204 |access-date=16 April 2025 |work=The Glasgow Herald |date=17 February 1965 |page=1}}

|{{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative

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

|rowspan=2|Peter Thorneycroft

|rowspan=2|60px

|rowspan=2|16 February 1965

|rowspan=2|13 April 1966

|rowspan=2{{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative

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

|rowspan="2" {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Heath

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

|Quintin Hogg

|File:Quintin Hogg, Baron Hailsham Allan Warren.jpg

|13 April 1966

|18 June 1970

|{{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative

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

|James Callaghan

|60px

|18 June 1970

|19 October 1971

|{{Party shading/Labour}} | Labour

|rowspan="3" {{Party shading/Labour}} | Wilson II

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

|Shirley Williams

|File:Shirley Williams, 1984.jpg

|19 October 1971

|25 November 1973

|{{Party shading/Labour}} | Labour

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

|Roy Jenkins

|File:Roy Jenkins 1977b.jpg

|25 November 1973

|4 March 1974

|{{Party shading/Labour}} | Labour

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

|Robert Carr

|60px

|4 March 1974

|11 March 1974{{cite news |title=Barber Prepares to Quit |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sOk9AAAAIBAJ&dq=Shadow+Cabinet&pg=PA1&article_id=2079,2274899 |access-date=16 April 2025 |work=The Glasgow Herald |date=12 March 1974 |pages=1, 30}}

|{{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative

|rowspan=3 {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Heath II

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

|Jim Prior

|60px

|11 March 1974

|12 June 1974{{cite web |title=Whitelaw takes on key Tory post |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8ZFAAAAAIBAJ&dq=Shadow+Cabinet&pg=PA1&article_id=4410,2459642 |publisher=The Glasgow Herald |access-date=16 April 2025 |page=1 |date=12 June 1974}}

|{{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative

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

|Keith Joseph

|60px

|12 June 1974

|11 February 1975

|{{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative

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

|Ian Gilmour

|60px

|18 February 1975

|15 January 1976

|{{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative

|rowspan="2" {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Thatcher

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

|William Whitelaw

|60px

|11 April 1976

|4 May 1979

|{{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative

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

|Merlyn Rees

|60px

|4 May 1979

|4 November 1980

|{{Party shading/Labour}} | Labour

|{{Party shading/Labour}} | Callaghan

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

|Roy Hattersley

|File:Roy Hattersley 2012 cropped 2.jpg

|4 November 1980

|31 October 1983

|{{Party shading/Labour}} | Labour

|{{Party shading/Labour}} | Foot

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

|Gerald Kaufman

|File:Kaufman.JPG

|31 October 1983

|13 July 1987

|{{Party shading/Labour}} | Labour

|rowspan="2" {{Party shading/Labour}} | Kinnock

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

|Roy Hattersley

|File:Roy Hattersley 2012 cropped 2.jpg

|13 July 1987

|24 July 1992

|{{Party shading/Labour}} | Labour

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

|rowspan=2 |Tony Blair

|rowspan=2 |File:Tony Blair in 1997.jpg

|rowspan=2 |24 July 1992

|rowspan=2 |21 July 1994

|rowspan=2 {{Party shading/Labour}} | Labour

|{{Party shading/Labour}} | Smith

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

|Alun Michael

|File:Alun Michael official portrait.jpg

|21 July 1994

|20 October 1994

|{{Party shading/Labour}} | Labour

|rowspan="2"{{Party shading/Labour}} | Blair

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

|Jack Straw

|File:Jack Straw 2.jpg

|20 October 1994

|2 May 1997

|{{Party shading/Labour}} | Labour

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

|Michael Howard

|60px

|2 May 1997

|11 June 1997

|{{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative

|{{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Major

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

|Brian Mawhinney

|60px

|11 June 1997

|2 June 1998

|{{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative

|rowspan="3" {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Hague

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

|Norman Fowler

|60px

|2 June 1998

|15 June 1999

|{{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative

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

|Ann Widdecombe{{Cite web|url=https://members.parliament.uk/member/85/career |title=Miss Ann Widdecombe |work=UK Parliament |access-date=25 March 2023}}

|File:Widdebookclub (cropped).jpg

|15 June 1999

|18 September 2001

|{{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative

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

|Oliver Letwin{{Cite web|url=https://members.parliament.uk/member/247/career |title=Sir Oliver Letwin |work=UK Parliament |access-date=25 March 2023}}

|File:Oliver Letwin Official.jpg

|18 September 2001

|10 November 2003

|{{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative

|{{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Duncan Smith

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

|rowspan="2" | David Davis{{Cite web|url=https://members.parliament.uk/member/373/career |title=Mr David Davis |work=UK Parliament |access-date=25 March 2023}}

|rowspan="2" | File:Official portrait of Rt Hon David Davis MP crop 2.jpg

|rowspan="2" | 10 November 2003

|rowspan="2" | 12 June 2008

|rowspan="2" {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative

|{{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Howard

rowspan="3" {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Cameron
style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |

|Dominic Grieve{{Cite web|url=https://members.parliament.uk/member/16/career |title=Mr Dominic Grieve |work=UK Parliament |access-date=25 March 2023}}

|File:Official portrait of Mr Dominic Grieve crop 2.jpg

|12 June 2008

|19 January 2009

|{{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative

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

|Chris Grayling{{Cite web|url=https://members.parliament.uk/member/1413/career |title=Chris Grayling |work=UK Parliament |access-date=25 March 2023}}

|File:Official portrait of Rt Hon Chris Grayling MP crop 2.jpg

|19 January 2009

|6 May 2010

|{{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative

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

|Alan Johnson{{Cite web|url=https://members.parliament.uk/member/376/career |title=Alan Johnson |work=UK Parliament |access-date=25 March 2023}}

|60px

|12 May 2010

|8 October 2010

|{{Party shading/Labour}} | Labour

|{{Party shading/Labour}} | Harman I

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

|Ed Balls{{Cite web|url=https://members.parliament.uk/member/1549/career |title=Ed Balls |work=UK Parliament |access-date=25 March 2023}}

|60px

|8 October 2010

|20 January 2011

|{{Party shading/Labour}} | Labour

|rowspan="2" {{Party shading/Labour}} | Miliband

style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}; border-bottom:solid 1px {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" height=30 |

|rowspan="2"|Yvette Cooper{{Cite web|url=https://members.parliament.uk/member/420/career |title=Yvette Cooper |work=UK Parliament |access-date=25 March 2023}}

|rowspan="2"|60px

|rowspan="2"|20 January 2011

|rowspan="2"|14 September 2015

|rowspan="2" {{Party shading/Labour}} | Labour

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

|{{Party shading/Labour}} | Harman II

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

|Andy Burnham{{Cite web|url=https://members.parliament.uk/member/1427/career |title=Andy Burnham |work=UK Parliament |access-date=25 March 2023}}

|60px

|14 September 2015

|6 October 2016

|{{Party shading/Labour}} | Labour

|rowspan="2" {{Party shading/Labour}} | Corbyn

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

|Diane Abbott{{Cite web|url=https://members.parliament.uk/member/172/career |title=Ms Diane Abbott |work=UK Parliament |access-date=25 March 2023}}{{Cite web|title=Labour reshuffle: Diane Abbott made shadow home secretary |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-37579687|work=BBC News|date=7 October 2016}}

|60px

|6 October 2016

|5 April 2020

|{{Party shading/Labour}} | Labour

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

|Nick Thomas-Symonds{{Cite web|url=https://members.parliament.uk/member/4479/career |title=Nick Thomas-Symonds |work=UK Parliament |access-date=25 March 2023}}

|60px

|5 April 2020

|29 November 2021

|{{Party shading/Labour}} | Labour

|rowspan="2" {{Party shading/Labour}} | Starmer

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

|Yvette Cooper{{Cite web|title=Labour reshuffle: Yvette Cooper becomes shadow home secretary|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-59461674|work=BBC News|date=30 November 2021}}

|60px

|29 November 2021

|5 July 2024

|{{Party shading/Labour}} | Labour

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

|James Cleverly

|60px

|8 July 2024

|5 November 2024

|{{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative

|{{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} |Sunak

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

|Chris Philp

|60px

|5 November 2024

|Incumbent

|{{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Conservative

|{{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} |Badenoch

References

{{reflist}}

{{Shadow Home Secretaries}}

{{Shadow Great Officers of State}}

{{UK Parliament Opposition Cabinet Offices}}

Category:Official Opposition (United Kingdom)