Harriet Harman's second Shadow Cabinet was formed by

Harriet Harman Harriet Ruth Harman (born 30 July 1950) is a British politician and solicitor who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Camberwell and Peckham, formerly Peckham, since 1982. A member of the Labour Party, she has served in various Cabi ...

in 2015 during her second period as Acting Leader of the Labour Party. She assumed this role after

Ed Miliband Edward Samuel "Ed" Miliband (born 24 December 1969) is a British politician serving as Shadow Secretary of State for Climate Change and Net Zero since 2021. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Doncaster North since 2005. Miliband ...

resigned as party leader (and

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

) and announced she would continue until a new leader was elected on 12 September 2015. Miliband's resignation followed the party's defeat at the 2015 general election.

Creation

On 11 May 2015, Harman announced the make-up of her Shadow Cabinet. Most members of Miliband's last shadow cabinet continued in their roles with the following exceptions: *

Ed Balls Edward Michael Balls (born 25 February 1967) is a British broadcaster, writer, economist, professor and former politician who served as Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families from 2007 to 2010, and as Shadow Chancellor of the Exc ...

was defeated in his former Morley and Outwood constituency, so was replaced as

Shadow Chancellor The Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer in the British Parliamentary system is the member of the Shadow Cabinet who is responsible for shadowing the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The title is given at the gift of the Leader of the Opposition and ...

Chris Leslie Christopher Michael Leslie (born 28 June 1972) is a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Shipley from 1997 to 2005 and Nottingham East from 2010 to 2019. A former member of the Labour Party, he defected to form ...

. *

Douglas Alexander Douglas Garven Alexander (born 26 October 1967) is a Labour politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Paisley and Renfrewshire South, previously Paisley South, from 1997 until his defeat in 2015. During this time, he served as S ...

was defeated in his former

Paisley and Renfrewshire South Paisley and Renfrewshire South is a constituency of the House of Commons, located in Renfrewshire, Scotland to the southwest of Glasgow. It elects one Member of Parliament at least once every five years using the first-past-the-post system o ...

constituency, so was replaced as

Shadow Foreign Secretary In UK politics, the Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs is a position within the opposition's shadow cabinet that deals mainly with issues surrounding the Foreign Office. If elected, the person serving as ...

Hilary Benn Hilary James Wedgwood Benn (born 26 November 1953) is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Leeds Central since a by-election in 1999. He served in the Cabinet from 2003 to 2010, under both Tony Bla ...

* Margaret Curran was defeated in her former Glasgow East constituency, so was replaced as

Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland The Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland is a member of the UK Shadow Cabinet responsible for the scrutiny of the Secretary of State for Scotland and his/her department, the Scotland Office. The incumbent holder of the office is Ian Murray. ...

by Ian Murray, the party's only remaining MP in Scotland. *

Shabana Mahmood Shabana Mahmood ( ur, شبانہ محمود; born 17 September 1980) is a British Labour Party politician and barrister serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham Ladywood since 2010. Retrieved 7 December 2011 She has served in the ...

replaced Leslie as

Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury The Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury is the most junior member of the Shadow Cabinet, and is the deputy to the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer. The Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury acts as the primary opposition to the equivalent G ...

* Emma Reynolds replaced Benn as

Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government The Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities is a position with the UK Opposition's Shadow Cabinet; if the opposition party forms a new government, the designated person is a likely choice to become the new Levelli ...

Chris Bryant Christopher John Bryant (born 11 January 1962) is a British people, British politician and former Anglican priest who is the Chair of the Committees on Commons Select Committee on Standards, Standards and Commons Select Committee of Privileges, ...

became

Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport The Shadow Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), previously Shadow Secretary of State for National Heritage and Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, is a position in the Official Opposition Shadow Ca ...

, a post previously held by Harman in addition to the deputy leadership. *

Sadiq Khan Sadiq Aman Khan (; born 8 October 1970) is a British politician serving as Mayor of London since 2016. He was previously Member of Parliament (MP) for Tooting from 2005 until 2016. A member of the Labour Party, Khan is on the party's sof ...

stepped down from the Shadow Cabinet, and was replaced as

Shadow Secretary of State for Justice In British politics the Shadow Secretary of State for Justice is the member of the Shadow Cabinet who shadows the Secretary of State for Justice The secretary of state for justice, also referred to as the justice secretary, is a secretary ...

and

Shadow Lord Chancellor The Shadow Lord Chancellor is the member of the British Shadow Cabinet who shadows the Lord Chancellor, an office which has existed since the Norman Conquest. Since 2010, the officeholder has jointly held the title Shadow Secretary of State for ...

Lord Falconer Charles Leslie Falconer, Baron Falconer of Thoroton, (born 19 November 1951) is a British Labour peer and barrister who served as Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice under Prime Minister Tony Blair from 2003 to 2007. Born in ...

Additionally, Benn was given responsibility for the despatch box during deputy

PMQs Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs, officially known as Questions to the Prime Minister, while colloquially known as Prime Minister's Question Time) is a constitutional convention in the United Kingdom, currently held as a single session every W ...

against

George Osborne George Gideon Oliver Osborne (born Gideon Oliver Osborne; 23 May 1971) is a former British politician and newspaper editor who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2010 to 2016 and as First Secretary of State from 2015 to 2016 in the ...

in his role as

First Secretary of State The First Secretary of State is an office that is sometimes held by a minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The office indicates seniority, including over all other Secretaries of State. The office is not always in use, ...

. Harman's first shadow cabinet had been formed during a similar period as pro tempore leader following

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chance ...

's resignation following the 2010 general election.

Changes

On 13 May 2015, Baroness Royall of Blaisdon announced that she would be stepping down as

Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords The Shadow Leader of the House of Lords, also referred as the Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords, is the person who leads the Official Opposition in the House of Lords. Their job is to work with the Leader, Lord Speaker and other sen ...

Baroness Smith of Basildon Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...

was elected unopposed as her successor by Labour peers on 27 May 2015, and thus took her place in the shadow cabinet. In May 2015,

Rachel Reeves Rachel Jane Reeves (born 13 February 1979) is a British politician and economist serving as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer since 2021. A member of the Labour Party, she has been Member of Parliament for Leeds West since 2010. Born in Lewis ...

went on maternity leave ahead of the birth of her second child. Stephen Timms became Acting Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.

Members of the Shadow Cabinet

Sources
Parliament.ukLabour Shadow Cabinet

References

{{Reflist Harman Official Opposition (United Kingdom) 2015 establishments in the United Kingdom Cabinets disestablished in 2015 British shadow cabinets 2015 in British politics Harriet Harman