Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx (11 March 1916 – 23 May 1995) was a British statesman and Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, from 1964 to 1970 and again from 197 ...

of the Labour Party formed his Second Shadow Cabinet as Leader of Her Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition after losing the 1970 general election to

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

Edward Heath. He retained leadership of the Opposition for the length of the Heath ministry from 1970 to 1974. In February 1974, his party narrowly won an

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

. Wilson was then forced to form a minority government that lasted only until another election in October of that year. Following that election, Wilson formed a majority government.

Shadow Cabinet list

Initial Shadow Cabinet

Wilson announced his new Shadow Cabinet on 22 July 1970, following the

of Roy Jenkins as Deputy Leader and the Shadow Cabinet election. It featured three members who were not in the former cabinet, Foot, Williams and Houghton. *

– Leader of Her Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party * Roy Jenkins – Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party and Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer * Fred Peart – Shadow Leader of the House of Commons * Denis Healey – Shadow Foreign Secretary *

James Callaghan Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff ( ; 27 March 191226 March 2005) was a British statesman and Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the L ...

– Shadow Home Secretary * George Thomson – Shadow Secretary of State for Defence *

Anthony Crosland Charles Anthony Raven Crosland (29 August 191819 February 1977) was a British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician and author. A social democrat on the right wing of the Labour Party, he was a prominent socialist intellectual. His influe ...

– Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment * Tony Benn – Shadow Secretary of State for Industry and Technology * Michael Foot – Shadow Minister for Fuel and Power * Barbara Castle – Shadow Secretary of State for Employment * Shirley Williams – Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Services * Edward Short – Shadow Secretary of State for Education and Science * Douglas Houghton – Chair of the Parliamentary Labour Party * William Ross – Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland * Harold Lever – Shadow Minister for Europe

Junior Shadow Ministers

* Cledwyn Hughes – Shadow Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food * Andrew Faulds - Shadow Minister for the Arts * George Thomas – Shadow Secretary of State for Wales *

Roy Mason Roy Mason, Baron Mason of Barnsley, (18 April 1924 – 19 April 2015), was a British Labour Party politician and Cabinet minister who was Secretary of State for Defence and Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in the 1970s. Early life Ma ...

– Shadow President of the Board of Trade * Elwyn Jones – Shadow Attorney General * Samuel Silkin – Shadow Solicitor General for England and Wales * Robert Sheldon – Shadow Paymaster General * The Lord Shackleton PC – Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords * Bob Mellish – Opposition Chief Whip in the House of Commons * Baron Beswick – Opposition Chief Whip in the House of Lords

Changes

December 1971

replaces Barbara Castle as Shadow Secretary of State for Employment * Barbara Castle replaces Shirley Williams as Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Services * Shirley Williams replaces

as Shadow Secretary of State for the Home Department * Michael Foot replaces Fred Peart as Shadow Leader of the House of Commons * Fred Peart replaces Cledwyn Hughes as Shadow Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food * Peter Shore joins the shadow cabinet as Shadow Minister for Europe

April 1972

* Roy Jenkins resigns as Deputy Leader and Shadow Chancellor * George Thomson resigns as Shadow Defence Secretary and is replaced by Roy Hattersley * Harold Lever resigns is replaced as Shadow Minister of Fuel and Power by Eric Varley * Denis Healey replaces Roy Jenkins as Shadow Chancellor *

replaces Denis Healey as Shadow Foreign Secretary * Reg Prentice joins the shadow cabinet, replacing

as Shadow Employment Secretary * Edward Short replaces Roy Jenkins as Deputy Leader of the Opposition

December 1972

* Edward Short becomes Shadow Leader of the House of Commons * Roy Hattersley replaces Edward Short as Shadow Education Secretary * Fred Peart replaces Roy Hattersley as Shadow Defence Secretary * Norman Buchan replaces Fred Peart as Shadow Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food * Michael Foot replaces Peter Shore as Shadow Europe Minister * Peter Shore becomes Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster * Harold Lever takes responsibility for shadowing the Trade and Industry affairs dealing with company law, mergers, competition and insurance * Merlyn Rees joins the shadow cabinet with a newly created post:

Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland The shadow secretary of state for Northern Ireland is a member of the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (United Kingdom), British Shadow Cabinet responsible for the scrutiny of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, secretary of state for ...

* Barbara Castle is replaced as Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Services by John Silkin

November 1973

* Roy Jenkins returns to the shadow cabinet, replacing Shirley Williams as Shadow Home Secretary * Shirley Williams takes the newly created post of Shadow Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection

References

* {{UK Labour Party British shadow cabinets Harold Wilson Wilson 1970 establishments in the United Kingdom 1974 disestablishments in the United Kingdom 1970 in British politics