Shadow Cabinet Minister for International Development

Shadow Cabinet Minister for International Development
Shadow Cabinet Minister for International Development
	Incumbent; Wendy Morton; since 6 November 2024
Appointer	Leader of the Opposition
Website	The Shadow Cabinet

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 minister of state for development and Africa to account in Parliament. The role previously had no counterpart in the Government between 2020 and 2022 after the Department for International Development (DFID) and the role of international development secretary was abolished by the second Johnson government in 2020. The position was renamed from shadow secretary of state for international development in November 2021 and placed under the shadow foreign secretary.

The shadow minister also holds the foreign secretary and other FCDO ministers to account in Parliament. DFID was abolished in 2020 but Keir Starmer retained the role in his Shadow Cabinet.

Before Tony Blair established DfID in his first government after coming to power in 1997, there was a minister for overseas development ("minister of" before 1970) who was a part of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Since 1989, the shadow minister or shadow secretary has usually been a member of the shadow cabinet.

Shadow ministers and secretaries

Shadow Minister for Overseas Development [edit]
Name		Took office	Left office	Political party	Leader
	Robert Carr	October 1964	October 1965	Conservative	Alec Douglas-Home
	Christopher Chataway	October 1965	31 March 1966	Conservative	Edward Heath
	Richard Wood	April 1966	c. October 1967	Conservative
	Bernard Braine	c. October 1967	15 June 1970	Conservative
	Judith Hart	19 June 1970	4 March 1974	Labour	Harold Wilson
	Richard Wood	4 March 1974	18 February 1975	Conservative	Edward Heath
	Unclear; possibly none^{[n 1]}	18 February 1975	15 January 1976	Conservative	Margaret Thatcher
	Richard Luce	15 January 1976	4 May 1979	Conservative	Margaret Thatcher
	Judith Hart	4 May 1979	8 December 1980	Labour	James Callaghan
	Frank McElhone	8 December 1980	22 September 1982	Labour	Michael Foot
	Guy Barnett	24 November 1982	31 October 1983	Labour	Michael Foot
	Stuart Holland	31 October 1983	13 July 1987	Labour	Neil Kinnock
	Unclear	13 July 1987	2 November 1989	Labour
	Ann Clwyd	2 November 1989^[1]	18 July 1992	Labour
	Michael Meacher	18 July 1992^[2]	21 October 1993	Labour	John Smith
	Tom Clarke	21 October 1993^[3]	20 October 1994	Labour	John Smith
	Tom Clarke	21 October 1993^[3]	20 October 1994	Labour	Margaret Beckett
	Joan Lestor	20 October 1994^[4]	October 1996	Labour	Tony Blair
	Clare Short	25 July 1996^[5]	2 May 1997	Labour	Tony Blair
Shadow Secretary of State for International Development [edit]
Name		Took office	Left office	Political party	Leader
	The Baroness Chalker of Wallasey^{[n 2]}	2 May 1997	30 June 1997	Conservative	John Major
	Alastair Goodlad	30 June 1997^[7]	1 June 1998	Conservative	William Hague
	Gary Streeter	1 June 1998^[8]	14 September 2001	Conservative	William Hague
	Caroline Spelman	14 September 2001^[9]	10 November 2003	Conservative	Iain Duncan Smith
	John Bercow	10 November 2003^[10]	8 September 2004	Conservative	Michael Howard
	Alan Duncan	8 September 2004^[11]	10 May 2005	Conservative
	Andrew Mitchell	10 May 2005^[12]^[13]	11 May 2010	Conservative
	Douglas Alexander	11 May 2010^{[n 3]}	8 October 2010	Labour	Harriet Harman
	Harriet Harman	8 October 2010^[16]	7 October 2011	Labour	Ed Miliband
	Ivan Lewis	7 October 2011^[17]	7 October 2013	Labour
	Jim Murphy	7 October 2013^[18]	2 November 2014	Labour
	Mary Creagh	5 November 2014^[19]	12 September 2015	Labour
	Mary Creagh	5 November 2014^[19]	12 September 2015	Labour	Harriet Harman
	Diane Abbott	13 September 2015^[20]	27 June 2016	Labour	Jeremy Corbyn
	Kate Osamor	27 June 2016^[21]	1 December 2018	Labour & Co-op
	Dan Carden	1 December 2018	6 April 2020	Labour
	Preet Kaur Gill	6 April 2020	29 November 2021	Labour & Co-op	Keir Starmer
Shadow Cabinet Minister for International Development [edit]
Name		Took office	Left office	Political party	Leader
	Preet Gill	29 November 2021	4 September 2023	Labour & Co-op	Keir Starmer
	Lisa Nandy	4 September 2023	5 July 2024	Labour	Keir Starmer

Notes

^ Richard Wood replied for the Opposition in a debate on 24 February, six days after Margaret Thatcher named her Shadow Cabinet. Various other Conservatives, including the Reginald Maudling (as Shadow Foreign Secretary), Peter Tapsell, and John Davies (as Shadow Foreign Secretary) replied in debates on overseas development thereafter.
^ John Major's interim Shadow Cabinet consisted of those members of his Cabinet who retained their seats at the 1997 general election, but there had been no International Development Secretary, and the Overseas Development Minister was not in Cabinet. According to the Shadow Cabinet list, Major himself was responsible for Foreign Affairs (the department responsible for development in his government), but ministers could "call on the services of Members who served under them in Government".^[6] It is unknown whether Major called on the service of Baroness Chalker of Wallasey, the last Minister for Overseas Development, during the approximately two months before William Hague was elected leader. Therefore it is unclear whether the office was vacant or non-existent, or whether Major or Chalker should be considered to have held it.
^ Under Labour Party rules, ministers shadow their former roles when the party enters opposition.^[14] Alexander was International Development Secretary when Gordon Brown resigned as Prime Minister.^[15]

References

^ "Kinnock splits his top Treasury team". The Glasgow Herald. 2 November 1989. p. 1.
^ Timmins, Nicholas (25 July 1992). "Smith revamps Shadow Cabinet: Nicholas Timmins analyses the Labour line-up and looks at the backgrounds of the newcomers". The Independent. London. Retrieved 2 June 2011.
^ Linton, Martin (22 October 1993). "Women's lists 'not illegal': The New Shadow Cabinet". The Guardian. Manchester. Retrieved 2 June 2011.
^ Timms, Nicholas (21 October 1994). "Blair uses reshuffle to put own sta on Shadow Cabinet: Brown stays as shadow Chancellor—Cook takes foreign affairs—Straw is shadow Home Secretary—Beckett moves to health". The Independent. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
^ Rentoul, John (26 July 1996). "A rare national treasure in peril". The Independent.
^ "Opposition Front Bench Spokespersons as at 13 May 1997 (Interim List)". Weekly Information Bulletin. House of Commons Information Office. 17 May 1997.
^ "Hague Makes Final Appointments". Politics 97. BBC News. 24 June 1997. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
^ "Hague reshuffles shadow cabinet". 1 June 1998. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
^ "Eurosceptics prosper under Duncan Smith". BBC News. 14 September 2001. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
^ "Howard unveils his top team". BBC News. 10 November 2003. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
^ "Howard expands shadow cabinet in reshuffle". The Telegraph. 8 September 2005. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
^ "Reshuffle deals Tories mixed hand". The Scotsman. 11 May 2005. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
^ "Cameron's frontlilne team unveiled". BBC News. 8 December 2005.
^ Prince, Rosa (21 May 2010). "Mandelson and Adonis step down". The Telegraph.
^ "Douglas Alexander MP". House of Commons Information Office. Archived from the original on 24 July 2012. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
^ Prince, Rosa (8 October 2010). "Ed Miliband unveils shocks in shadow cabinet selections". The Telegraph.
^ "Labour's Shadow Cabinet". Labour.org.uk. 7 October 2011. Archived from the original on 9 October 2011.
^ "Goodbye to Defence. Hello to International Development". Archived from the original on 12 October 2013. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
^ "Labour reshuffle: Dugher and Powell promoted by ed Miliband". BBC News. 5 November 2014.
^ "Shadow Cabinet: Who's In And Who's Out?". Sky News. 14 September 2015. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
^ Jamie Grierson; Anushka Asthana (27 June 2016). "Jeremy Corbyn unveils new shadow cabinet after raft of resignations". The Guardian.

[1] Richard Wood replied for the Opposition in a debate on 24 February, six days after Margaret Thatcher named her Shadow Cabinet. Various other Conservatives, including the Reginald Maudling (as Shadow Foreign Secretary), Peter Tapsell, and John Davies (as Shadow Foreign Secretary) replied in debates on overseas development thereafter.

[8] John Major's interim Shadow Cabinet consisted of those members of his Cabinet who retained their seats at the 1997 general election, but there had been no International Development Secretary, and the Overseas Development Minister was not in Cabinet. According to the Shadow Cabinet list, Major himself was responsible for Foreign Affairs (the department responsible for development in his government), but ministers could "call on the services of Members who served under them in Government".^[6] It is unknown whether Major called on the service of Baroness Chalker of Wallasey, the last Minister for Overseas Development, during the approximately two months before William Hague was elected leader. Therefore it is unclear whether the office was vacant or non-existent, or whether Major or Chalker should be considered to have held it.

[18] Under Labour Party rules, ministers shadow their former roles when the party enters opposition.^[14] Alexander was International Development Secretary when Gordon Brown resigned as Prime Minister.^[15]

[2] "Kinnock splits his top Treasury team". The Glasgow Herald. 2 November 1989. p. 1.

[3] Timmins, Nicholas (25 July 1992). "Smith revamps Shadow Cabinet: Nicholas Timmins analyses the Labour line-up and looks at the backgrounds of the newcomers". The Independent. London. Retrieved 2 June 2011.

[4] Linton, Martin (22 October 1993). "Women's lists 'not illegal': The New Shadow Cabinet". The Guardian. Manchester. Retrieved 2 June 2011.

[5] Timms, Nicholas (21 October 1994). "Blair uses reshuffle to put own sta on Shadow Cabinet: Brown stays as shadow Chancellor—Cook takes foreign affairs—Straw is shadow Home Secretary—Beckett moves to health". The Independent. Retrieved 18 July 2011.

[6] Rentoul, John (26 July 1996). "A rare national treasure in peril". The Independent.

[7] "Opposition Front Bench Spokespersons as at 13 May 1997 (Interim List)". Weekly Information Bulletin. House of Commons Information Office. 17 May 1997.

[9] "Hague Makes Final Appointments". Politics 97. BBC News. 24 June 1997. Retrieved 22 August 2012.

[10] "Hague reshuffles shadow cabinet". 1 June 1998. Retrieved 22 August 2012.

[11] "Eurosceptics prosper under Duncan Smith". BBC News. 14 September 2001. Retrieved 22 August 2012.

[12] "Howard unveils his top team". BBC News. 10 November 2003. Retrieved 21 August 2012.

[13] "Howard expands shadow cabinet in reshuffle". The Telegraph. 8 September 2005. Retrieved 21 August 2012.

[14] "Reshuffle deals Tories mixed hand". The Scotsman. 11 May 2005. Retrieved 21 August 2012.

[15] "Cameron's frontlilne team unveiled". BBC News. 8 December 2005.

[16] Prince, Rosa (21 May 2010). "Mandelson and Adonis step down". The Telegraph.

[17] "Douglas Alexander MP". House of Commons Information Office. Archived from the original on 24 July 2012. Retrieved 20 August 2012.

[19] Prince, Rosa (8 October 2010). "Ed Miliband unveils shocks in shadow cabinet selections". The Telegraph.

[20] "Labour's Shadow Cabinet". Labour.org.uk. 7 October 2011. Archived from the original on 9 October 2011.

[21] "Goodbye to Defence. Hello to International Development". Archived from the original on 12 October 2013. Retrieved 13 October 2013.

[22] "Labour reshuffle: Dugher and Powell promoted by ed Miliband". BBC News. 5 November 2014.

[23] "Shadow Cabinet: Who's In And Who's Out?". Sky News. 14 September 2015. Retrieved 14 September 2015.

[24] Jamie Grierson; Anushka Asthana (27 June 2016). "Jeremy Corbyn unveils new shadow cabinet after raft of resignations". The Guardian.

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v t e His Majesty's Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet
Official Opposition frontbench
Current	Leader of the Opposition Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Shadow Deputy Prime Minister Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer Shadow Home Secretary Shadow Foreign Secretary Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster / Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office Shadow Defence Secretary Shadow Education Secretary Shadow Justice Secretary / Shadow Lord Chancellor Shadow Attorney General Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Shadow Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Shadow Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology Shadow Secretary of State for Transport Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Shadow Leader of the House of Commons Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Shadow Leader of the House of Lords Shadow Scottish Secretary Shadow Welsh Secretary Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury Shadow Paymaster General Shadow Minister for Security Shadow Minister for Veterans Opposition Chief Whip
Former	Shadow Cabinet Minister for International Development Shadow Cabinet Minister for Mental Health Shadow Minister without Portfolio Shadow Minister of State at the Cabinet Office Shadow Secretary of State for Child Poverty Shadow Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs Shadow Secretary of State for Employment Rights and Protections Shadow Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union Shadow Secretary of State for the Family Shadow Secretary of State for Housing Shadow Secretary of State for Young People and Democracy Shadow Secretary of State for the Future of Work

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