The Shadow Secretary of State for Women and Equalities (previously Shadow Minister for Women, Shadow Minister for Women and Equality, Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities) is a position in the United Kingdom's
Official Opposition
Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term ''government'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ''th ...
, and sits in the Shadow Cabinet. The Shadow Secretary of State is responsible for holding the
Minister for Women and Equalities, responsible for the
Government Equalities Office
The Government Equalities Office (GEO) is the unit of the British government with responsibility for social equality. The office has lead responsibility for gender equality within the UK government, together with a responsibility to provide advic ...
, to account and is responsible for Opposition policy on women's and equality issues.
The post was upgraded to the Shadow
Cabinet rank
The ministerial ranking, Cabinet ranking, order of precedence in Cabinet or order of precedence of ministers is the "pecking order" or relative importance of senior ministers in the Government of the United Kingdom, UK government.
Use
The mi ...
of
Shadow Secretary of State following the
snap general election of 2017, with
Jeremy Corbyn indicating that if Labour win office at the next election, Women and Equalities will be upgraded to the full status of a
government department. Previously, the post was often held together with a
Shadow Cabinet post, but sometimes as a Shadow Cabinet post in its own right.
The position, since its creation in 1983, has always been held by a female
Member of Parliament. The position has been held by
Anneliese Dodds since 21 September 2021, after having been vacant since the resignation of
Marsha de Cordova on 14 September 2021.
Shadow ministers
See also
*
Official Opposition frontbench
The frontbench of His Majesty's Loyal Opposition in the Parliament of the United Kingdom consists of the Shadow Cabinet and other official shadow ministers of the political party currently serving as the Official Opposition. The Opposition front ...
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shadow Minister For Women And Equalities
Official Opposition (United Kingdom)
Government Equalities Office