Shadow Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Shadow Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Shadow Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
	Incumbent; Vacant; since 5 November 2024
Appointer	Leader of the Opposition
Website	Shadow Cabinet

The Shadow Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is a position in the United Kingdom's Shadow Cabinet that was created on 6 December 2005 by the then-Leader of the Opposition, David Cameron for his shadow cabinet. From 2005 to 2010, the office was known as Senior Member of the Shadow Cabinet, and from 2015 to 2023, the office was known as Shadow First Secretary of State. From 2010 to 2015 and again since 2023, the office has been known as Shadow Deputy Prime Minister.

Even though the role has no specific responsibilities attached to it, the holder of the position shadows the First Secretary of State and/or Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and deputises for the Leader of the Opposition in Prime Minister's Questions when the First Secretary or Deputy PM is deputising for the Prime Minister.^[1]

Since 5 November 2024, the position is vacant with Alex Burghart informally deputising for the Leader of the Opposition. The most recent holder of the position is Oliver Dowden.

List of Shadow Deputy Prime Ministers

Deputy Leader of the Opposition [edit \| edit source]
Deputy Leader			Term of Office		Concurrent position	Political Party	Leader of the Opposition
	Arthur Greenwood	File:Arthur Greenwood LCCN2014717286-cropped.jpg	23 May 1945	26 July 1945	Deputy Leader of the Labour Party	Labour	Clement Attlee
	Anthony Eden	File:Anthony Eden (retouched) (cropped).jpg	26 July 1945	26 October 1951	Shadow Foreign Secretary	Conservative	Winston Churchill
	Oliver Stanley Acting	File:Oliver Stanley MP (cropped).jpg	January 1949^[2]	March 1949	Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer	Conservative	Winston Churchill
	Herbert Morrison	File:Herbert Morrison 1947 (cropped).jpg	26 October 1951	25 November 1955	Deputy Leader of the Labour Party	Labour	Clement Attlee
	Vacant		25 November 1955	2 February 1956		Labour	Herbert Morrison
	Vacant		25 November 1955	2 February 1956		Labour	Hugh Gaitskell
	Jim Griffiths	File:3x4.svg	2 February 1956	24 October 1959	Deputy Leader of the Labour Party	Labour
	Aneurin Bevan	File:Aneurin Bevan (crop).jpg	24 October 1959	6 July 1960	Deputy Leader of the Labour Party Shadow Foreign Secretary	Labour
	Vacant		6 July 1960	10 November 1960		Labour
	George Brown	File:George Brown, 1967.jpg	10 November 1960	18 January 1963	Deputy Leader of the Labour Party Shadow Minister of Defence (1960–1962) Shadow Home Secretary (1962–1963)	Labour
	Vacant		18 January 1963	14 February 1963		Labour	George Brown
	George Brown	File:George Brown, 1967.jpg	14 February 1963	16 October 1964	Deputy Leader of the Labour Party Shadow Home Secretary	Labour	Harold Wilson
	Reginald Maudling	File:Reginald Maudling, 1969 (Brightned) (cropped).jpg	29 October 1964	20 June 1970	Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer (1964–1965) Shadow Foreign Secretary (1965) Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party (1965–1970) Shadow Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs (1966–1968) Shadow Secretary of State for Defence (1968)	Conservative	Alec Douglas-Home Edward Heath
	Vacant		20 June 1970	8 July 1970		Labour	Harold Wilson
	Roy Jenkins	File:Roy Jenkins 1977 (cropped).jpg	8 July 1970	10 April 1972	Deputy Leader of the Labour Party Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer	Labour
	Vacant		10 April 1972	25 April 1972		Labour
	Edward Short	File:3x4.svg	25 April 1972	4 March 1974	Deputy Leader of the Labour Party Shadow Secretary of State for Education and Science (1972) Shadow Leader of the House of Commons (1972–1974)	Labour
	Robert Carr	File:Robert Carr2.jpg	12 March 1974	11 February 1975	Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer	Conservative	Edward Heath
	William Whitelaw	File:3x4.svg	11 February 1975	4 May 1979	Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party Shadow Home Secretary (1976–1979)	Conservative	Margaret Thatcher
	Michael Foot	File:Michael Foot (1981).jpg	4 May 1979	13 November 1980	Deputy Leader of the Labour Party Shadow Leader of the House of Commons	Labour	James Callaghan
	Denis Healey	File:Denis Healey.jpg	13 November 1980	2 October 1983	Deputy Leader of the Labour Party Shadow Foreign Secretary	Labour	Michael Foot
	Roy Hattersley	File:Roy Hattersley 2012 cropped 3.jpg	2 October 1983	18 July 1992	Deputy Leader of the Labour Party Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer (1983–1987) Shadow Home Secretary (1987–1992)	Labour	Neil Kinnock
	Margaret Beckett	File:Official portrait of Margaret Beckett as Environment Secretary (cropped).jpg	18 July 1992	12 May 1994	Deputy Leader of the Labour Party Shadow Leader of the House of Commons	Labour	John Smith
	Vacant		12 May 1994	21 July 1994		Labour	Margaret Beckett
	John Prescott	File:John Prescott official portrait (cropped).jpg	21 July 1994	2 May 1997	Deputy Leader of the Labour Party	Labour	Tony Blair
	Michael Heseltine	File:Lord Heseltine (6969083278).jpg	2 May 1997	19 June 1997	Shadow Secretary of State for Trade and Industry Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster	Conservative	John Major
	Vacant		19 June 1997	1 June 1998		Conservative	William Hague
	Peter Lilley	File:Peter Lilley (cropped).jpg	1 June 1998	15 June 1999	Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party	Conservative
	Vacant		15 June 1999	1 February 2000		Conservative
	Michael Portillo	File:Michael Portillo by Regents College cropped.jpg	1 February 2000	18 September 2001	Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer	Conservative
	Michael Ancram	File:Global Strategy Forum (6963381142) cropped.jpg	18 September 2001	6 December 2005	Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party Shadow Foreign Secretary (2001–2005) Shadow Secretary of State for Defence (2005)	Conservative	Iain Duncan Smith Michael Howard
Senior Member of the Shadow Cabinet [edit \| edit source]
Senior Member			Term of Office		Concurrent position	Political Party	Leader of the Opposition
	William Hague	File:William Hague with poppy (3x4).jpg	6 December 2005	11 May 2010	Shadow Foreign Secretary	Conservative	David Cameron
Shadow Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom [edit \| edit source]
Shadow Deputy Prime Minister			Term of Office		Concurrent position	Political Party	Leader of the Opposition
	Jack Straw	File:Jack Straw 2.jpg	11 May 2010	25 September 2010	Shadow Secretary of State for Justice Shadow Lord Chancellor	Labour	Harriet Harman
	Harriet Harman	File:Harriet Harman MP at Salford International Media Festival 2014 (cropped).jpg	7 October 2010	8 May 2015	Deputy Leader of the Opposition Deputy Leader of the Labour Party Chair of the Labour Party Shadow Secretary of State for International Development (2010–2011) Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (2011–2015)	Labour	Ed Miliband
Shadow First Secretary of State [edit \| edit source]
Shadow First Secretary			Term of Office		Concurrent position	Political Party	Leader of the Opposition
	Hilary Benn	File:Hilary Benn MP, UK Shadow Foreign Secretary (24954780735) (cropped).jpg	11 May 2015	13 September 2015	Shadow Foreign Secretary	Labour	Harriet Harman
	Angela Eagle	File:Angela Eagle, speaking in 2015 (cropped).JPG	13 September 2015	27 June 2016	Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills	Labour	Jeremy Corbyn
Office not in use from June 2016 to June 2017.
	Emily Thornberry	File:Emily Thornberry, 2016 Labour Party Conference 4.jpg	14 June 2017	5 April 2020	Shadow Foreign Secretary	Labour	Jeremy Corbyn
	Angela Rayner	File:Official portrait of Angela Rayner MP crop 2.jpg	9 April 2020	4 September 2023	Deputy Leader of the Opposition Deputy Leader of the Labour Party Chair of the Labour Party (2020–2021) Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (2021–2023) Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office (2021–2023)	Labour	Keir Starmer
Shadow Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom [edit \| edit source]
Shadow Deputy Prime Minister			Term of Office		Concurrent position	Political Party	Leader of the Opposition
	Angela Rayner	File:Official portrait of Angela Rayner MP crop 2.jpg	4 September 2023	5 July 2024	Deputy Leader of the Opposition Deputy Leader of the Labour Party Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities	Labour	Keir Starmer
	Oliver Dowden	File:Official portrait of Oliver Dowden MP crop 2, 2024.jpg	5 July 2024	5 November 2024	Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster	Conservative	Rishi Sunak
Office not in use Since November 2024.

References

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v t e His Majesty's Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet
Official Opposition frontbench
Current	Leader of the Opposition Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Shadow Deputy Prime Minister Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer Shadow Home Secretary Shadow Foreign Secretary Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster / Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office Shadow Defence Secretary Shadow Education Secretary Shadow Justice Secretary / Shadow Lord Chancellor Shadow Attorney General Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Shadow Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Shadow Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology Shadow Secretary of State for Transport Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Shadow Leader of the House of Commons Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Shadow Leader of the House of Lords Shadow Scottish Secretary Shadow Welsh Secretary Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury Shadow Paymaster General Shadow Minister for Security Shadow Minister for Veterans Opposition Chief Whip
Former	Shadow Cabinet Minister for International Development Shadow Cabinet Minister for Mental Health Shadow Minister without Portfolio Shadow Minister of State at the Cabinet Office Shadow Secretary of State for Child Poverty Shadow Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs Shadow Secretary of State for Employment Rights and Protections Shadow Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union Shadow Secretary of State for the Family Shadow Secretary of State for Housing Shadow Secretary of State for Young People and Democracy Shadow Secretary of State for the Future of Work

v t e United Kingdom Shadow Cabinets of the United Kingdom
Official Opposition	MacDonald I (1923–1924) Baldwin I (1924) MacDonald II (1924–1929) Churchill (1945–1951) Attlee (1951–1955) Gaitskell (1955–1963) Brown (1963) Wilson I (1963–1964) Douglas-Home (1964–1965) Heath I (1965–1970) Wilson II (1970–1974) Heath II (1974–1975) Thatcher (1975–1979) Callaghan (1979–1980) Foot (1980–1983) Kinnock (1983–1992) Smith (1992–1994) Beckett (1994) Blair (1994–1997) Major (1997) Hague (1997–2001) Duncan Smith (2001–2003) Howard (2003–2005) Cameron (2005–2010) Harman I (2010) Miliband (2010–2015) Harman II (2015) Corbyn (2015–2020) Starmer (2020–2024) Sunak (2024) Badenoch (2024–present)
Liberal Democrats	Ashdown (1997–1999) Kennedy (1999–2006) Campbell (2006–2007) Cable I (2007) Clegg (2007–2010) Farron (2015–2017) Cable II (2017–2019) Swinson (2019) Davey (2020–present)
Scottish National Party	Robertson (2015–2017) Blackford (2017–2022) Flynn (2022–present)
1964 to Present

Shadow Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Contents

List of Shadow Deputy Prime Ministers

Deputy Leader of the Opposition

Senior Member of the Shadow Cabinet