Shadow Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero

Shadow Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
Incumbent Claire Coutinho since 8 July 2024
Appointer	Leader of the Opposition

The shadow secretary of state for energy security and net zero is a post in the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet. The shadow secretary originally helped hold the secretary of state for energy and climate change and junior ministers to account and is the lead spokesperson on energy and climate change issues for their party. The post currently holds the secretary of state for energy security and net zero to account in Parliament.

A previous Official Opposition post of shadow secretary of state for energy existed until the Department of Energy was merged into the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in 1992. In 2008, the Department for Energy and Climate Change was split from the DTI's successor department, effectively reviving the former department and the need for an Opposition shadow.

Following Theresa May's appointment as Prime Minister in July 2016, the department was disbanded and merged with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to form the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with the consequent ending of this shadow post.

It was revived during the Shadow Cabinet of Keir Starmer and given to Ed Miliband, the former Labour leader, who was then serving as Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy before his appointment.

List of shadow secretaries for energy

Shadow Minister for Power
Name			Took office	Left office	Political party	Shadow Cabinet
	Philip Noel-Baker		15 July 1955	27 November 1956	Labour	Attlee
						Gaitskell
	Harold Neal		27 November 1956	November 1959
	Frederick Lee		November 1959	November 1960
	Ray Gunter		November 1960	6 December 1961
	Tom Fraser		6 December 1961	16 October 1964
						Brown
						Wilson
	Frederick Erroll		16 October 1964	29 October 1964	Conservative	Douglas-Home
	John Peyton		29 October 1964	19 April 1966
						Heath
	Anthony Barber		19 April 1966	23 February 1967
	Keith Joseph		23 February 1967	10 October 1967
	Margaret Thatcher		10 October 1967	14 November 1968
	John Eden		14 November 1968	19 June 1970
Shadow Minister for Fuel and Power
Name			Took office	Left office	Political party	Shadow Cabinet
	Michael Foot		22 July 1970	16 December 1971	Labour	Wilson II
	Harold Lever		16 December 1971	11 April 1972
	Eric Varley		11 April 1972	4 March 1974
Shadow Secretary of State for Energy
Name			Took office	Left office	Political party	Shadow Cabinet
	Patrick Jenkin		12 March 1974	15 January 1976	Conservative	Heath II
						Thatcher
	John Biffen		15 January 1976	19 November 1976
	Tom King	File:Official portrait of Lord King of Bridgwater crop 2.jpg	19 November 1976	4 May 1979
	Tony Benn	File:Tony Benn 1981 Edit.jpg	4 May 1979	14 July 1979	Labour	Callaghan
	David Owen	File:David Owen-1.jpg	14 July 1979	4 November 1980
	Merlyn Rees	File:Merlyn Rees appearing on After Dark , 16 July 1988 - (cropped).jpg	4 November 1980	24 November 1982		Michael Foot
	John Smith	File:John Smith in 1989.jpg	24 November 1982	2 October 1983
	Stan Orme	File:Stanley Orme.jpg	2 October 1983	13 July 1987		Kinnock
	John Prescott	File:John Prescott official portrait (cropped).jpg	13 July 1987	23 November 1988
	Tony Blair	File:Tony Blair in 1995.jpg	23 November 1988	2 November 1989
	Frank Dobson	File:Frank Dobson, Secretary of State for Health (cropped).jpg	2 November 1989	18 July 1992
Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change
Name			Took office	Left office	Political party	Shadow Cabinet
	Greg Clark	File:Greg Clark at the CBI Climate Change Summit 2008 cropped.jpg	6 October 2008	11 May 2010	Conservative	Cameron
	Ed Miliband	File:Ed Miliband election infobox.jpg	11 May 2010	8 October 2010	Labour	Harman
	Meg Hillier	File:Meg Hillier looking forwards (cropped).jpg	8 October 2010	7 October 2011		Miliband
	Caroline Flint	File:Redhill Holy Trinity Church Hall - Mar 2012 - Caroline Flint MP with Rhys.jpg	7 October 2011	14 September 2015
						Harman II
	Lisa Nandy	File:Lisa Nandy, 2016 Labour Party Conference 3 (head crop).jpg	14 September 2015	27 June 2016		Corbyn
	Barry Gardiner	File:Barry Gardiner, 2016 Labour Party Conference 1 (cropped).jpg	27 June 2016	8 October 2016
Shadow Secretary of State for Climate Change and Net Zero
Name			Took office	Left office	Political party	Shadow Cabinet
	Ed Miliband	File:Official portrait of Rt Hon Edward Miliband MP crop 2.jpg	29 November 2021	4 September 2023	Labour	Starmer
Shadow Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
Name			Took office	Left office	Political party	Shadow Cabinet
	Ed Miliband	File:Ed Miliband 2024 (cropped) 2.jpg	4 September 2023	5 July 2024	Labour	Starmer
	Claire Coutinho	File:Official portrait of Claire Coutinho MP crop 2, 2024.jpg	8 July 2024	Incumbent	Conservative	Sunak Badenoch

See also

• Official Opposition frontbench