![Sir Edward Heath Allan Warren](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/Sir_Edward_Heath_Allan_Warren.jpg)
The Second Shadow Cabinet of Edward Heath was created after the
Conservative Party
The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right.
Political parties called The Conservative P ...
lost the
February 1974 general election. It was led by the
Leader of the Conservative Party Edward Heath
Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 191617 July 2005), often known as Ted Heath, was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conserv ...
and featured prominent Conservative politicians both past and future. Included was Heath's successor
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...
, the future
Home Secretary
The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national ...
William Whitelaw
William Stephen Ian Whitelaw, 1st Viscount Whitelaw, (28 June 1918 – 1 July 1999) was a British Conservative Party politician who served in a wide number of Cabinet positions, most notably as Home Secretary from 1979 to 1983 and as ''de fac ...
, and two future
Foreign Secretaries,
Lord Carrington
Peter Alexander Rupert Carington, 6th Baron Carrington, Baron Carington of Upton, (6 June 1919 – 9July 2018), was a British Conservative Party politician and hereditary peer who served as Defence Secretary from 1970 to 1974, Foreign Secret ...
and
Francis Pym
Francis Leslie Pym, Baron Pym, (13 February 1922 – 7 March 2008) was a British Conservative Party politician who served in various Cabinet positions in the 1970s and 1980s, including Foreign, Defence and Northern Ireland Secretary, and Leader ...
. For the first time in history, a
leadership election was held in 1975 for the Conservative Party whilst the position was not vacant.
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...
challenged Heath, with whom the majority of the party was dissatisfied because of repeated losses at elections. She won, becoming the first female leader of a major political party in Britain.
Shadow cabinet list
References
Further reading
*
Margaret Thatcher: The Authorized Biography Volume 1: Not For Turning by
Charles Moore
{{British shadow cabinets
Official Opposition (United Kingdom)
British shadow cabinets
1974 in British politics
1974 establishments in the United Kingdom
1975 disestablishments in the United Kingdom
Edward Heath