# Shadow Leader of the House of Commons

The Shadow Leader of the House of Commons is a member of the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet responsible for working with the Leader of the House in arranging Commons business and holding the Government to account in its overall management of the House. The Shadow Leader also responds to the Business Statement of Leader of House each Thursday, though the Leader of the Opposition exercised this role until the late 1980s. The office is roughly equivalent to the Shadow Leader of the House of Lords.

## Shadow Leaders

| Name | Portrait | Took office | Left office | Political party | Leader of the Opposition |
| Herbert Morrison | | 1951 | c. 1955 | Labour | Clement Attlee |
| Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Labour | Hugh Gaitskell |
| Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Labour | George Brown |
| Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Labour | Harold Wilson |
| Selwyn Lloyd | | 16 October 1964 | 4 August 1965 | Conservative | Alec Douglas-Home |
| Unknown/Vacant | Unknown/Vacant | 4 August 1965 | 19 June 1970 | Conservative | Edward Heath |
| Fred Peart | | 19 June 1970 | 16 December 1971 | Labour | Harold Wilson |
| Michael Foot | | 16 December 1971 | 6 December 1972 | Labour | Harold Wilson |
| Edward Short | | 6 December 1972 | 4 March 1974 | Labour | Harold Wilson |
| James Prior | | 4 March 1974 | 29 October 1974 | Conservative | Edward Heath |
| John Peyton | | 29 October 1974 | 19 November 1976 | Conservative | Edward Heath |
| John Peyton | | 29 October 1974 | 19 November 1976 | Conservative | Margaret Thatcher |
| Francis Pym | | 19 November 1976 | Approx. 20 November 1978 | Conservative | Margaret Thatcher |
| Norman St John-Stevas | | Approx. 20 November 1978 | 5 May 1979 | Conservative | Margaret Thatcher |
| Michael Foot | | 4 May 1979 | 8 December 1980 | Labour | James Callaghan |
| John Silkin | | 8 December 1980 | 30 October 1983 | Labour | Michael Foot |
| Peter Shore | | 30 October 1983 | 13 July 1987 | Labour | Neil Kinnock |
| Frank Dobson | | 13 July 1987 | 2 November 1989 | Labour | Neil Kinnock |
| John Cunningham | | 2 November 1989 | 24 July 1992 | Labour | Neil Kinnock |
| Margaret Beckett | | 24 July 1992 | 13 May 1994 | Labour | John Smith |
| Nick Brown (Acting) | | 13 May 1994 | 21 July 1994 | Labour | Margaret Beckett |
| Margaret Beckett | | 21 July 1994 | 20 October 1994 | Labour | Tony Blair |
| Ann Taylor | | 20 October 1994 | 2 May 1997 | Labour | Tony Blair |
| Alastair Goodlad | | May 1997 | 30 June 1997 | Conservative | John Major |
| Gillian Shephard | | 30 June 1997 | 2 June 1998 | Conservative | William Hague |
| Sir George Young | | 1 June 1998 | 22 September 2000 | Conservative | William Hague |
| Angela Browning | | 26 September 2000 | 18 September 2001 | Conservative | William Hague |
| Eric Forth | | 18 September 2001 | 10 November 2003 | Conservative | Iain Duncan Smith |
| Oliver Heald | | 10 November 2003 | 10 May 2005 | Conservative | Michael Howard |
| Chris Grayling | | 10 May 2005 | 8 December 2005 | Conservative | Michael Howard |
| Theresa May | | 8 December 2005 | 19 January 2009 | Conservative | David Cameron |
| Alan Duncan | | 19 January 2009 | 7 September 2009 | Conservative | David Cameron |
| Sir George Young | | 8 September 2009 | 11 May 2010 | Conservative | David Cameron |
| Rosie Winterton | | 12 May 2010 | 8 October 2010 | Labour | Harriet Harman |
| Hilary Benn | | 8 October 2010 | 7 October 2011 | Labour | Ed Miliband |
| Angela Eagle | | 7 October 2011 | 13 September 2015 | Labour | Ed Miliband |
| Angela Eagle | | 7 October 2011 | 13 September 2015 | Labour | Harriet Harman |
| Chris Bryant | | 13 September 2015 | 26 June 2016 | Labour | Jeremy Corbyn |
| Paul Flynn | | 4 July 2016 | 6 October 2016 | Labour | Jeremy Corbyn |
| Valerie Vaz | | 6 October 2016 | 9 May 2021 | Labour | Jeremy Corbyn |
| Valerie Vaz | | 6 October 2016 | 9 May 2021 | Labour | Sir Keir Starmer |
| Thangam Debbonaire | | 9 May 2021 | 4 September 2023 | Labour | Sir Keir Starmer |
| Lucy Powell | | 4 September 2023 | 5 July 2024 | Labour | Sir Keir Starmer |
| Chris Philp | | 8 July 2024 | 5 November 2024 | Conservative | Rishi Sunak |
| Jesse Norman | | 5 November 2024 | Incumbent | Conservative | Kemi Badenoch |

### Notes

* ↑ Lloyd was Leader of the House before the Conservatives lost the 1964 election and was "retained" in the portfolio of "co-ordination of the Opposition in the Commons. It is not clear whether the Conservative party at this point used the term "Shadow Leader" to describe the job, but the term was used.
* ↑ Edward Heath reshuffled the Conservative front bench after being elected leader in the summer of 1964, though he rejected the term "Shadow Cabinet" and instituted a "federal system", three Shadow ministers being in charge of a general area (foreign, economic, and home affairs). For example, Alec Douglas-Home headed foreign affairs, sitting above the Shadow Foreign and Defence Secretaries. The former members of the Shadow Cabinet remained, but three members had no specific responsibilities. It is unclear whether Heath himself was in effect Shadow Leader of the House, as would have been common before the Second World War, or the responsibilities were assigned to one or more shadow ministers.
* ↑ Peart was Leader of the House going into Labour's election loss on 18 June 1970 and left the role of Shadow Leader of the House on 16 December 1971. There is no evidence that anyone else served as Shadow Leader between those dates.
* 1 2 In October 1978, Pym was made Shadow Foreign Secretary, and St John-Stevas succeeded him.