The Cabinet – and its Shadow

If you're a serious quizzer, and you're not all that interested in politics (oh – is that just me?) this section is a potential millstone around your neck. You feel you need to know it, and there's a lot of it to learn; and a lot of the names are just names. It's also subject to periodic "reshuffles", although the reshuffles are (fortunately) fairly infrequent.

I might add that this page is a nightmare to maintain, because the Government and Shadow posts never match exactly and different roles are shared by people on either side. But you don't care about that!

You're unlikely to get asked about the first couple of rows – unless it's by a member of the medical profession who's concerned about your mental well–being. Otherwise, the higher up the page these posts appear, the more likely they are to come up.

So actually, I suppose, the problem for the serious quizzer who isn't all that interested in politics is how much of this to learn!

This page was last updated on 30 August 2024.

Position		Incumbent		Shadow
Prime Minister / Leader of the Opposition		Keir Starmer		Rishi Sunak
First Lord of the Treasury
Minister for the Union
Minister for the Civil Service
Deputy Prime Minister / Deputy Leader of the Opposition		Angela Rayner		Oliver Dowden
SoS for Housing, Communities and Local Government				Kemi Badenoch
Chancellor of the Exchequer		Rachel Reeves		Jeremy Hunt
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster		Pat McFadden		Oliver Dowden
Foreign Secretary		David Lammy		Andrew Mitchell
Home Secretary		Yvette Cooper		James Cleverly
SoS for Defence		John Healey		James Cartlidge
SoS for Justice, (Lord Chancellor)		Shabana Mahmood		Edward Argar
SoS for Health and Social Care		Wes Streeting		Victoria Atkins
SoS for Education		Bridget Phillipson		Damian Hinds
Minister / Shadow SoS for Women and Equalities				Mims Davies
SoS for Energy Security and Net Zero		Ed Miliband		Claire Coutinho
SoS for Work and Pensions		Liz Kendall		Mel Stride
SoS for Business and Trade		Jonathan Reynolds		Kevin Hollinrake
President of the Board of Trade
SoS for Science, Innovation and Technology		Peter Kyle		Andrew Griffith
SoS for Transport		Louise Haigh		Helen Whately
SoS for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs		Steve Reed		Steve Barclay
SoS for Culture, Media and Sport		Lisa Nandy		Julia Lopez
SoS for Northern Ireland		Hilary Benn		Alex Burghart
SoS for Scotland		Ian Murray		John Lamont
SoS for Wales		Jo Stevens		Lord (David T. C.) Davies
Leader of the House of Commons		Lucy Powell		Chris Philp
Lord President of the Council
Leader of the House of Lords		Angela Smith		Nicholas True
Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal
Opposition Chief Whip in the House of Commons				Stuart Andrew
Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury				Laura Trott
Shadow Paymaster General				John Glen
Shadow Minister of State for Security				Tom Tugendhat
Shadow Minister of State for Veterans' Affairs				Andrew Bowie

The following people attend meetings of the Cabinet, but are not full members:

Position		Incumbent
Chief Whip / Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury		Sir Alan Campbell
Chief Secretary to the Treasury		Darren Jones
Attorney General for England and Wales		Lord (Richard) Hermer
Advocate General for Northern Ireland
MoS for Development / Women & Inequalities		Anneliese Dodds

© Haydn Thompson 2018–24