Michael Foot was

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 ...

from 4 November 1980, following his victory in the 1980 leadership election, to 2 October 1983, when he was replaced by Neil Kinnock at the 1983 leadership election. The 1980 election was triggered by

James Callaghan Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, ( ; 27 March 191226 March 2005), commonly known as Jim Callaghan, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1976 to 1980. Callaghan is ...

's loss at the 1979 general election, and Foot's own disastrous defeat in the

1983 general election The following elections occurred in the year 1983. Africa * 1983 Cameroonian parliamentary election * 1983 Equatorial Guinean legislative election * 1983 Kenyan general election * 1983 Malagasy parliamentary election * 1983 Malawian general e ...

. Until 2011, the Labour MPs elected the bulk of the membership of the Shadow Cabinet. The leader was expected to assign portfolios to those elected, but was able to assign portfolios to MPs not elected to the Shadow Cabinet and to refuse to assign portfolios to elected members. For example, William Rodgers was not given a portfolio despite winning in the 1980 Shadow Cabinet elections. When he left the party months later to help create the Social Democratic Party, Tony Benn automatically joined the Shadow Cabinet. Foot also chose not to give the more radical Benn a portfolio. When Benn lost in the 1981 Shadow Cabinet elections, all the new members received portfolios ( Shadow Minister for Europe became a Shadow Cabinet post for the rest of Foot's tenure as leader).

Shadow Cabinet List

Initial Shadow Cabinet

Foot announced his first Shadow Cabinet on 8 December 1980, following the 1980 Shadow Cabinet elections. * Michael Foot – Leader of Her Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition *

Denis Healey Denis Winston Healey, Baron Healey, (30 August 1917 – 3 October 2015) was a British Labour Party (UK), Labour politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1974 to 1979 and as Secretary of State for Defence from 1964 to 1970; he ...

– Deputy Leader of the Labour Party and Shadow Foreign Secretary * Peter Shore – Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer * Roy Hattersley – Shadow Home Secretary * John Silkin –

Shadow Leader of the House of Commons The Shadow Leader of the House of Commons is a member of the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (United Kingdom), Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet responsible for working with the Leader of the House of Commons, Leader of the House in arrangin ...

Brynmor John Brynmor Thomas John (18 April 1934 – 13 December 1988) was a British Labour politician. John was Member of Parliament for Pontypridd in South Wales from 1970 until his death. During the Labour government of 1974 to 1979, he was a junior Defen ...

– Shadow Secretary of State for Defence * Stanley Orme – Shadow Secretary of State for Industry * Eric Varley – Shadow Secretary of State for Employment *

Gerald Kaufman Sir Gerald Bernard Kaufman (21 June 1930 – 26 February 2017) was a British politician and author who served as a minister throughout the Labour government of 1974 to 1979. Elected as a member of parliament (MP) at the 1970 general election, ...

–

Shadow Secretary of State for Environment Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is a position with the UK Opposition's Shadow Cabinet that deals with issues surrounding the environment and food and rural affairs; if the opposition party is elected to govern ...

* Merlyn Rees –

Shadow Secretary of State for Energy The Shadow Secretary of State for Climate Change and Net Zero is a post in the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet. The Shadow Secretary originally helped hold the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change and junior ministers to account ...

John Smith John Smith is a common personal name. It is also commonly used as a placeholder name and pseudonym, and is sometimes used in the United States and the United Kingdom as a term for an average person. It may refer to: People :''In chronological ...

– Shadow Secretary of State for Trade *

Albert Booth Albert Edward Booth (28 May 1928 – 6 February 2010) was a British left-wing Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician and cabinet minister. Early life Booth was educated at Marine School, South Shields and Northumbria University, Rutherford ...

– Shadow Secretary of State for Transport * Roy Mason –

Shadow Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food The Shadow Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food was a member of the UK Shadow Cabinet responsible for the scrutiny of the Ministers of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and his/her ministry, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. ...

* Neil Kinnock – Shadow Secretary of State for Education and Science *

Norman Buchan Norman Findlay Buchan (27 October 1922 – 23 October 1990) was a Labour Party politician, who was on the left-wing of the party, and represented the West Renfrewshire seat from 1964 until 1983 and the Paisley South seat from 1983 until his de ...

– Shadow Secretary of State for Social Services * Gwyneth Dunwoody –

Shadow Secretary of State for Health The Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care is an office within British politics held by a member of His Majesty's Loyal Opposition. The duty of the office holder is to scrutinise the actions of the government's Secretary of State f ...

* Bruce Millan – Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland * Alec Jones – Shadow Secretary of State for Wales * Don Concannon – Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland * Frank McElhone –

Shadow Minister for Overseas Development The shadow cabinet minister for international development is the lead spokesperson for the United Kingdom's Official Opposition on issues related to international aid, most notably to the third world. The shadow cabinet minister holds the Ministe ...

* John Morris –

Shadow Attorney General The Shadow Attorney General for England and Wales is an office within British politics held by a member of His Majesty's Loyal Opposition. The duty of the office holder is to scrutinise the actions of the Attorney General for England and Wales a ...

* William Rodgers – Shadow Minister without Portfolio * The Lord Peart – Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords * Michael Cocks – Opposition Chief Whip in the House of Commons * The Baroness Llewelyn-Davies of Hastoe – Opposition Chief Whip in the House of Lords

Changes

*27 January 1981: Rodgers resigned from the Shadow Cabinet and was replaced by Tony Benn. This came days after Rodgers, Shirley Williams,

David Owen David Anthony Llewellyn Owen, Baron Owen, (born 2 July 1938) is a British politician and physician who served as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs as a Labour Party (UK), Labour Party MP under James Callaghan from 1977 t ...

, and

Roy Jenkins Roy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead, (11 November 1920 – 5 January 2003) was a British politician who served as President of the European Commission from 1977 to 1981. At various times a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Lab ...

(the "Gang of Four") created the Council for Social Democracy, a step along the way to their creation of the Social Democratic Party.

1981 reshuffle

On 24 November 1981, after the 1981 Shadow Cabinet elections, Foot reshuffled the Shadow Cabinet. Brynmor John moved from Defence to Social Services and was replaced by Silkin, who retained the post of Shadow Leader of the House. Buchnan replaced Mason at Agriculture. Benn, Mason, and Morris were dropped from the Shadow Cabinet. Peter Archer and Eric Heffer joined the Shadow Cabinet as

and Shadow Minister for Europe, respectively. * Michael Foot – Leader of Her Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition *

– Deputy Leader of the Labour Party and Shadow Foreign Secretary * Peter Shore – Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer * Roy Hattersley – Shadow Home Secretary * John Silkin – Shadow Secretary of State for Defence and

– Shadow Secretary of State for Social Services * Stanley Orme – Shadow Secretary of State for Industry * Eric Varley – Shadow Secretary of State for Employment *

–

* Merlyn Rees –

– Shadow Secretary of State for Trade *

– Shadow Secretary of State for Transport *

–

* Neil Kinnock – Shadow Secretary of State for Education and Science * Gwyneth Dunwoody –

* Bruce Millan – Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland * Alec Jones – Shadow Secretary of State for Wales * Don Concannon – Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland * Frank McElhone –

* Eric Heffer – Shadow Minister for Europe * Peter Archer –

* The Lord Peart – Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords * Michael Cocks – Opposition Chief Whip in the House of Commons * The Baroness Llewelyn-Davies of Hastoe – Opposition Chief Whip in the House of Lords

Changes

*22 September 1982: McElhone died, replaced by Guy Barnett. *4 November 1982: Lord Cledwyn of Penrhos defeated the incumbent leader in the Lords, Lord Peart, by 60–37.

Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede Baron Ponsonby of Shulbrede, of Shulbrede in the County of Sussex, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1930 for the politician Arthur Ponsonby. Ponsonby was the third son of General Sir Henry Ponsonby and the great ...

also succeeded Baroness Llewelyn-Davies as Lords Chief Whip for Labour. *24 November 1982: Foot conducted a mini-reshuffle following the 1982 Shadow Cabinet elections. Smith moved from Trade to Energy, and Rees moved to a "policy role". Archer replaced Smith at Trade. In turn, Arthur Davidson replaced him as Shadow Attorney General until he lost his seat in the 1983 General Election, when John Morris returned to the role of Shadow Attorney General (which he would hold through successive leaders until 1997, when he became

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

). *20 March 1983: Jones Died, replaced by Denzil Davies

References

{{Michael Foot Official Opposition (United Kingdom)

Foot The foot ( : feet) is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is a separate organ at the terminal part of the leg made ...

1980 establishments in the United Kingdom 1981 in the United Kingdom 1982 in the United Kingdom 1980 elections in the United Kingdom 1983 elections in the United Kingdom 1983 disestablishments in the United Kingdom British shadow cabinets Michael Foot