Shadow Secretary of State for Education

The shadow secretary of state for education, also called the shadow education secretary, is an office in the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet responsible for Opposition policy on education and for holding the secretary of state for education, junior education ministers, and the Department for Education to account.

Shadow Secretary of State for Education
Incumbent Laura Trott since 4 November 2024
Appointer	Leader of the Opposition
Inaugural holder	Roy Hattersley
Website	His Majesty's Official Opposition: The Shadow Cabinet

List of shadow secretaries of state

Shadow Secretaries of State for Education and Science
Shadow Secretary			Took office	Left office	Political party	Shadow Cabinet
	Roy Hattersley		4 May 1973	5 March 1974	Labour	Wilson II
	Norman St John-Stevas		28 February 1974	6 November 1978	Conservative	Thatcher
	Mark Carlisle		6 November 1978	4 May 1979
	Gordon Oakes[n 1]		4 May 1979	14 July 1979	Labour	Callaghan
	Neil Kinnock		14 July 1979	2 October 1983
						Foot
	Giles Radice		2 October 1983	13 July 1987		Kinnock
	Jack Straw		13 July 1987	18 July 1992
Shadow Secretaries of State for Education
Shadow Secretary			Took office	Left office	Political party	Shadow Cabinet
	Ann Taylor		18 July 1992	20 October 1994	Labour	Smith
						Beckett
	David Blunkett		20 October 1994	19 October 1995		Blair
Shadow Secretaries of State for Education and Employment
Shadow Secretary			Took office	Left office	Political Party	Shadow Cabinet
	David Blunkett		19 October 1995	2 May 1997	Labour	Blair
	Gillian Shephard		2 May 1997	11 June 1997	Conservative	Major
	Stephen Dorrell		11 June 1997	15 June 1998		Hague
	David Willetts		1 June 1998	15 June 1999
	Theresa May		15 June 1999	18 September 2001
Shadow Secretary of State for Education and Skills
Shadow Secretary			Took office	Left office	Political party	Shadow Cabinet
	Damian Green		18 September 2001	11 November 2003	Conservative	Duncan Smith
	Tim Yeo		11 November 2003	14 July 2004		Howard
	Tim Collins[1]		14 July 2004	5 May 2005
	David Cameron[2]		10 May 2005	6 December 2005
	David Willetts[3]		8 December 2005	3 July 2007		Cameron
Shadow Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families
Shadow Secretary			Took office	Left office	Political party	Shadow Cabinet
	Michael Gove[4]		3 July 2007	6 May 2010	Conservative	Cameron
Shadow Secretaries of State for Education
Shadow Secretary			Took office	Left office	Political party	Shadow Cabinet
	Ed Balls[5]		12 May 2010	8 October 2010	Labour	Harman I
	Andy Burnham[6]		8 October 2010	7 October 2011		Miliband
	Stephen Twigg[7]		7 October 2011	7 October 2013
	Tristram Hunt[8]		7 October 2013	14 September 2015
						Harman II
	Lucy Powell[9]		14 September 2015	26 June 2016		Corbyn
	Pat Glass[10]		27 June 2016	29 June 2016
	Angela Rayner[11]		1 July 2016	5 April 2020
	Rebecca Long-Bailey[12]		6 April 2020	25 June 2020		Starmer
	Kate Green[13]		27 June 2020	29 November 2021
	Bridget Phillipson[14]		29 November 2021	5 July 2024
	Damian Hinds[15]		8 July 2024	4 November 2024	Conservative	Sunak
	Laura Trott[16]		4 November 2024	Incumbent		Badenoch

See also

• Official Opposition frontbench

References

1. "Mr Tim Collins". UK Parliament. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
2. "Mr David Cameron". UK Parliament. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
3. "Lord Willetts". UK Parliament. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
4. "Michael Gove". UK Parliament. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
5. "Ed Balls". UK Parliament. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
6. "Andy Burnham". UK Parliament. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
7. "Stephen Twigg". UK Parliament. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
8. "Tristram Hunt". UK Parliament. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
9. "Lucy Powell". UK Parliament. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
10. "Pat Glass". UK Parliament. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
11. "Angela Rayner". UK Parliament. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
12. "Rebecca Long Bailey". UK Parliament. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
13. "Kate Green". UK Parliament. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
14. "Bridget Phillipson". UK Parliament. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
15. "UK politics live: Lord Cameron resigns as Rishi Sunak announces interim shadow cabinet". BBC News. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
16. "Politics latest: New Tory leader makes key shadow cabinet appointment". Sky News. Retrieved 4 November 2024.

Notes

1. Secretary of State for Education and Science Shirley Williams lost her seat in the General Election.