Shadow First Secretary of State

Shadow First Secretary of State
Shadow First Secretary of State
	Incumbent; Angela Rayner; since 9 April 2020
	Shadow Cabinet
Appointer	Leader of the Opposition
Formation	11 May 2015
First holder	Jack Straw; (Acting Shadow Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom); Hilary Benn; (Acting)
Website	Shadow Cabinet

The Shadow First Secretary of State is a position in the United Kingdom's Shadow Cabinet that was created on 11 May 2015 by the Leader of the Opposition, Harriet Harman for her interim shadow cabinet. From 2005 to 2010, the office was known as Senior Member of the Shadow Cabinet, and from 2010 to 2015, the office was known as Shadow Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Even though the role has no specific responsibilities attached to it, the holder of the position shadows the First Secretary of State and deputises for the Leader of the Opposition in Prime Minister's Questions when the First Secretary is deputising for the Prime Minister.^[1] The current office-holder is Deputy Labour Leader Angela Rayner, who succeeded Emily Thornberry in April 2020. After Dominic Raab was appointed Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in September 2021, Rayner does not have a counterpart in HM Government to shadow.

List of Shadow Ministers and Secretaries[]

Senior Member of the Shadow Cabinet[]
Senior Member		Term of Office		Political Party	Leader of the Opposition
	William Hague	6 December 2005	11 May 2010	Conservative	David Cameron
Shadow Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom[]
Shadow Deputy Prime Minister		Term of Office		Political Party	Leader of the Opposition
	Jack Straw Acting	11 May 2010	25 September 2010	Labour	Harriet Harman
	Harriet Harman	7 October 2010	8 May 2015	Labour	Ed Miliband
Shadow First Secretary of State[]
Shadow First Secretary		Term of Office		Political Party	Leader of the Opposition
	Hilary Benn Acting	11 May 2015	13 September 2015	Labour	Harriet Harman
	Angela Eagle	13 September 2015	27 June 2016	Labour	Jeremy Corbyn
Office not in use from June 2016 to June 2017.
	Emily Thornberry	14 June 2017	5 April 2020	Labour	Jeremy Corbyn
	Angela Rayner	9 April 2020	Present	Labour	Keir Starmer

References[]

^ "Brexit: Green and Thornberry Prime Minister's Questions clash". BBC News Online. Retrieved 12 July 2017.

[1] "Brexit: Green and Thornberry Prime Minister's Questions clash". BBC News Online. Retrieved 12 July 2017.

[1]

v t Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet
Leadership	Keir Starmer (Leader) Angela Rayner (Deputy Leader)
Shadow Cabinet members	Allin-Khan Ashworth Campbell Cooper Debbonaire Gill Haigh Healey Kennedy Kyle Lammy Mahmood McMahon Miliband Murray Nandy Phillipson Powell Reed Reeves Reynolds Smith Stevens Streeting Thomas-Symonds Thornberry

v t Shadow Cabinets of the United Kingdom
Official Opposition	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–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–present)
1964 to Present

Shadow First Secretary of State

Contents

List of Shadow Ministers and Secretaries[]

Senior Member of the Shadow Cabinet[]

Shadow Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom[]

Shadow First Secretary of State[]

See also[]

References[]

Shadow First Secretary of State
Incumbent Angela Rayner since 9 April 2020
Shadow Cabinet
Appointer	Leader of the Opposition
Formation	11 May 2015
First holder	Jack Straw (Acting Shadow Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom) Hilary Benn (Acting)
Website	Shadow Cabinet