Shadow cabinet

What is the shadow cabinet?

The shadow cabinet is made up of senior members of the main opposition party in Westminster who act as spokespeople for the opposition in specific policy areas. Shadow ministers are appointed by the leader of the opposition and generally take roles that mirror the current government. Their job is to scrutinise those they ‘shadow’ in government, and develop policies for their party.

The official opposition, and the shadow cabinet in particular, is expected to play the role of a ‘government in waiting’. In the event of a change of governing party, members of the shadow cabinet might expect to take up the role they have been shadowing. In 2024, most of Keir Starmer's shadow cabinet continued in the same brief in government. But a new prime minister may decide to allocate roles to their team differently once they are in government.

Not all shadow cabinet roles have a direct opposite number in government. Sometimes the opposition will appoint a shadow minister for a policy area it thinks is important and that it wishes to highlight. In July 2025 Kemi Badenoch appointed Neil O’Brien as shadow minister for policy renewal and development, despite the fact that such a role does not exist within government.

Who is in the shadow cabinet?

Kemi Badenoch has had three different shadow cabinets since becoming leader. Her first shadow cabinet was formed in November 2024 after she won the conservative leadership contest. She then reshuffled her top team in July 2025 and again in August 2026. 

Badenoch reshuffled her shadow cabinet on 31 August 2026. Her shadow cabinet is made up of 26 members (including Kevin Hollinrake as Conservative Party Chairman) - including two members of the 2024 intake, Harriet Cross and Katie Lam:

• Mel Stride was replaced as shadow chancellor of the exchequer by Andrew Griffith, who was previously shadow business and trade secretary;
• Priti Patel was replaced as shadow foreign secretary by Tom Tugenhat, former security minister and previously chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee;
• Katie Lam became shadow secretary of state for housing, communities and local government, replacing James Cleverly who stood down from the frontbench to announce his candidacy for London Mayor;
• Claire Coutinho became shadow secretary of state for business, innnovation, science and trade, but is on maternity leave so her role is being covered by Julia Lopez.

Who else is on the shadow front bench?

In September 2025, Badenoch's wider shadow front bench included,

• 42 shadow ministers of state (or equivalent rank),
• 10 shadow parliamentary under secretaries (or equivalent rank),
• a deputy leader for the House of Commons and the House of Lords respectively and the shadow attorney general,
• 15 further shadow ministers who work as whips across both houses ⁷ Numbers from ‘His Majesty’s Official Opposition: The Shadow Cabinet’, Parliament.UK, retrieved 03 September 2025, https://members.parliament.uk/opposition/cabinet. .

A number of these shadow ministers held more than one role. ⁸ 3 shadow ministers hole 2 shadow MoS roles; 5 hold a shadow MoS and a whip role; 1 holds two shadow MoS roles and a whip role; 3 hold a shadow PUSS role and a whip role and 1 holds a shadow MoS role and a shadow PUSS role.  This means that 63 out of 120 (+1 suspended) Conservative MPs (just over half) held shadow ministerial positions. Badenoch's shadow government also included 32 shadow Lords ministers.

It is not yet clear whether the August 2026 reshuffle included changes to these ranks. 

Which constituencies did the shadow cabinet represent?

Most of Badenoch’s second shadow cabinet represented constituencies in South East England. There is no Welsh representation amongst the shadow cabinet as the Conservative party lost all of its Welsh MPs at the general election. Mims Davies, the shadow secretary of state for wales, has a constituency in Sussex who worked in Wales earlier in her career. 

How experienced is Badenoch's shadow cabinet?

All members of Badenoch’s first shadow cabinet entered parliament after 2010, meaning that they entered opposition for the first time following the 2024 election. The median number of years that shadow ministers had spent in parliament was less time on average compared to their Labour equivalents – around 10 years compared to 15 years for the cabinet.

What did Kemi Badenoch's first shadow cabinet look like?

Kemi Badenoch formed her first shadow cabinet on 5 November 2024 . Her shadow cabinet included nine members of Rishi Sunak’s interim shadow cabinet and three of her competitors for the Conservative Party leadership race – Mel Stride, Priti Patel and Robert Jenrick.