Shadow Home Secretary

In British politics, the shadow home secretary (formally known as the shadow secretary of state for the home department) is the person within the shadow cabinet who shadows the home secretary; this effectively means scrutinising government policy on home affairs including policing, national security, and matters of citizenship. The shadow home secretary also formerly had responsibility for the criminal justice system and the prison service; these responsibilities are now held by the shadow justice secretary. If the opposition party is elected to government, the Shadow Home Secretary often becomes the new Home Secretary, though this is not always the case. The office is currently held by Chris Philp, a member of the Conservative shadow cabinet.

Shadow Home Secretary
Incumbent Chris Philp since 5 November 2024
Appointer	Leader of the Opposition
Inaugural holder	Kenneth Younger
Formation	14 December 1955
Website	The Shadow Cabinet

In recent decades, the positions of home secretary and shadow home secretary have alternated between the Conservative and Labour parties. The corresponding position for the Liberal Democrats is the Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesperson.

List of shadow home secretaries

Name		Portrait	Entered office	Left office	Party	Shadow Cabinet
	Kenneth Younger		14 December 1955	13 May 1957	Labour	Gaitskell
	Patrick Gordon-Walker		13 May 1957	12 March 1962	Labour
	George Brown		12 March 1962	15 February 1963	Labour
	Frank Soskice		15 February 1963	15 October 1964	Labour	Wilson I
	Edward Boyle		15 October 1964	4 August 1965	Conservative	Douglas-Home
	Peter Thorneycroft		4 August 1965	13 April 1966	Conservative	Heath I
	Quintin Hogg		13 April 1966	18 June 1970	Conservative
	James Callaghan		18 June 1970	19 October 1971	Labour	Wilson II
	Shirley Williams		19 October 1971	25 November 1973	Labour
	Roy Jenkins		25 November 1973	4 March 1974	Labour
	Jim Prior		11 March 1974	13 June 1974	Conservative	Heath II
	Keith Joseph		13 June 1974	11 February 1975	Conservative
	Ian Gilmour		18 February 1975	15 January 1976	Conservative	Thatcher
	Willie Whitelaw		11 April 1976	4 May 1979	Conservative
	Merlyn Rees		4 May 1979	4 November 1980	Labour	Callaghan
	Roy Hattersley		4 November 1980	31 October 1983	Labour	Foot
	Gerald Kaufman		31 October 1983	13 July 1987	Labour	Kinnock
	Roy Hattersley		13 July 1987	24 July 1992	Labour
	Tony Blair		24 July 1992	21 July 1994	Labour	Smith
						Beckett
	Alun Michael		21 July 1994	20 October 1994	Labour	Blair
	Jack Straw		20 October 1994	2 May 1997	Labour	Blair
	Michael Howard		2 May 1997	11 June 1997	Conservative	Major
	Brian Mawhinney		11 June 1997	2 June 1998	Conservative	Hague
	Norman Fowler		2 June 1998	15 June 1999	Conservative
	Ann Widdecombe[1]		15 June 1999	18 September 2001	Conservative
	Oliver Letwin[2]		18 September 2001	10 November 2003	Conservative	Duncan Smith
	David Davis[3]		10 November 2003	12 June 2008	Conservative	Howard
						Cameron
	Dominic Grieve[4]		12 June 2008	19 January 2009	Conservative
	Chris Grayling[5]		19 January 2009	6 May 2010	Conservative
	Alan Johnson[6]		12 May 2010	8 October 2010	Labour	Harman I
	Ed Balls[7]		8 October 2010	20 January 2011	Labour	Miliband
	Yvette Cooper[8]		20 January 2011	14 September 2015	Labour
						Harman II
	Andy Burnham[9]		14 September 2015	6 October 2016	Labour	Corbyn
	Diane Abbott[10][11]		6 October 2016	5 April 2020	Labour
	Nick Thomas-Symonds[12]		5 April 2020	29 November 2021	Labour	Starmer
	Yvette Cooper[8][13]		29 November 2021	5 July 2024	Labour
	James Cleverly		8 July 2024	5 November 2024	Conservative	Sunak
	Chris Philp		5 November 2024	Incumbent	Conservative	Badenoch

References

1. "Miss Ann Widdecombe". UK Parliament. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
2. "Sir Oliver Letwin". UK Parliament. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
3. "Mr David Davis". UK Parliament. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
4. "Mr Dominic Grieve". UK Parliament. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
5. "Chris Grayling". UK Parliament. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
6. "Alan Johnson". UK Parliament. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
7. "Ed Balls". UK Parliament. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
8. "Yvette Cooper". UK Parliament. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
9. "Andy Burnham". UK Parliament. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
10. "Ms Diane Abbott". UK Parliament. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
11. "Labour reshuffle: Diane Abbott made shadow home secretary". BBC News. 7 October 2016.
12. "Nick Thomas-Symonds". UK Parliament. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
13. "Labour reshuffle: Yvette Cooper becomes shadow home secretary". BBC News. 30 November 2021.