| Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Shadow Cabinet | |
| Appointer | Leader of the Opposition |
| Inaugural holder | Alfred Robens |
| Formation | 14 December 1955 |
Theshadow secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, commonly called theshadow foreign secretary, is a position within theUK official opposition shadow cabinet that deals mainly with issues surrounding theForeign Office. If elected, the person serving as shadow foreign secretary may be designated to serve as the newforeign secretary.
The current Shadow Secretary of State of foreign, commonwealth and development affairs isPriti Patel. The shadow secretary (usually with one or more junior shadow ministers) holds thesecretary of state for foreign, commonwealth and development affairs and other FCDO ministers to account inParliament.
AlthoughDFID and the role ofinternational development secretary were abolished by thesecond 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 theshadow secretary of state for international development,Preet Gill. This however is no longer the case after theNovember 2021 British shadow cabinet reshuffle.
| Name | Portrait | Term of office | Political party | Shadow Cabinet | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alfred Robens |  | 15 July 1955[1] | 27 November 1956 | Labour | Attlee II | |
| Gaitskell | ||||||
| Aneurin Bevan | .jpg) | 27 November 1956[2] | 6 July 1960 | Labour | ||
| Denis Healey |  | 7 July 1960 | 30 November 1961[3] | Labour | ||
| Harold Wilson |  | 30 November 1961 | 22 February 1963 | Labour | ||
| Brown | ||||||
| Patrick Gordon Walker |  | 22 February 1963 | 15 October 1964 | Labour | Wilson I | |
| R. A. Butler |  | 15 October 1964 | 16 February 1965[4] | Conservative | Douglas-Home | |
| Reginald Maudling | _(cropped).jpg) | 16 February 1965[4] | 4 August 1965[5] | Conservative | ||
| Christopher Soames |  | 4 August 1965 | 13 April 1966 | Conservative | Heath I | |
| Alec Douglas-Home | .jpg) | 13 April 1966 | 19 June 1970 | Conservative | ||
| Michael Stewart |  | 19 June 1970 | 24 July 1970 | Labour | Wilson II | |
| Denis Healey | | 24 July 1970 | 19 April 1972 | Labour | ||
| James Callaghan |  | 19 April 1972 | 4 March 1974 | Labour | ||
| Alec Douglas-Home | | 4 March 1974 | August 1974 | Conservative | Heath II | |
| Geoffrey Rippon | .jpg) | August 1974 | 11 February 1975 | Conservative | ||
| Reginald Maudling | | 11 February 1975 | 11 April 1976 | Conservative | Thatcher | |
| John Davies | 11 April 1976 | 6 November 1978 | Conservative | |||
| Francis Pym[a] | .jpg) | 6 November 1978 | 4 May 1979 | Conservative | ||
| David Owen |  | 4 May 1979 | 14 July 1979 | Labour | Callaghan | |
| Peter Shore | 14 July 1979 | 8 December 1980 | Labour | |||
| Denis Healey | | 8 December 1980 | 13 June 1987 | Labour | Foot | |
| Kinnock | ||||||
| Gerald Kaufman |  | 13 June 1987 | 24 July 1992 | Labour | ||
| Jack Cunningham | .jpg) | 24 July 1992 | 20 October 1994 | Labour | Smith | |
| Beckett | ||||||
| Robin Cook |  | 20 October 1994 | 2 May 1997 | Labour | Blair | |
| John Major |  | 7 May 1997 | 11 June 1997 | Conservative | Major | |
| Michael Howard |  | 11 June 1997 | 15 June 1999 | Conservative | Hague | |
| John Maples | 15 June 1999 | 2 February 2000 | Conservative | |||
| Francis Maude |  | 2 February 2000 | 18 September 2001 | Conservative | ||
| Michael Ancram | _cropped.jpg) | 18 September 2001 | 10 May 2005 | Conservative | Duncan Smith | |
| Howard | ||||||
| Liam Fox | .jpg) | 10 May 2005 | 6 December 2005 | Conservative | ||
| William Hague | _(cropped).jpg) | 6 December 2005 | 11 May 2010 | Conservative | Cameron | |
| David Miliband |  | 11 May 2010 | 8 October 2010 | Labour | Harman I | |
| Yvette Cooper | _(tightcrop).jpg) | 8 October 2010 | 20 January 2011 | Labour | Miliband | |
| Douglas Alexander |  | 20 January 2011 | 11 May 2015 | Labour | ||
| Hilary Benn | _(cropped).jpg) | 11 May 2015 | 26 June 2016 | Labour | Harman II | |
| Corbyn | ||||||
| Emily Thornberry |  | 27 June 2016 | 5 April 2020 | Labour | ||
| Lisa Nandy |  | 5 April 2020 | 29 November 2021 | Labour | Starmer | |
| David Lammy | _(cropped).jpg) | 29 November 2021 | 5 July 2024 | Labour | ||
| Andrew Mitchell |  | 8 July 2024 | 4 November 2024 | Conservative | Sunak | |
| Dame Priti Patel | .jpg) | 4 November 2024 | Incumbent | Conservative | Badenoch | |
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