Shadow Cabinet of Rishi Sunak

Sunak Shadow Cabinet
Shadow cabinet of the United Kingdom
8 July 2024 – present
Date formed	8 July 2024
People and organisations
Monarch	Charles III
Leader of the Opposition	Rishi Sunak
Deputy Leader of the Opposition	Oliver Dowden
Member party	Conservative
Status in legislature	Official Opposition 121 / 650 (19%)
History
Legislature terms	2024 UK Parliament
Incoming formation	2024 general election
Outgoing formation	2024 Conservative Party leadership election (pending)
Predecessor	Shadow Cabinet of Keir Starmer

Rishi Sunak has been Leader of the Opposition as Leader of the Conservative Party since 5 July 2024, following his resignation as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the aftermath of the Conservative Party's defeat in the 2024 general election. He formed his shadow cabinet on 8 July 2024. Sunak is expected to serve as Leader of the Opposition until his successor is elected in the 2024 Conservative Party leadership election.

Overview

In his resignation speech, Sunak announced that he would resign as Conservative leader, but not immediately, resigning once the arrangements are in place for his successor to be elected in the 2024 Conservative Party leadership election. He formed his shadow cabinet on 8 July 2024. This was the party's first shadow cabinet since the Shadow Cabinet of David Cameron, which was disbanded in 2010 after Cameron formed a government following that year's general election.

Most members of Sunak's cabinet heading into the 2024 general election were given the same portfolios in the shadow cabinet, including former chancellor Jeremy Hunt, who became shadow chancellor, and former home secretary James Cleverly, who became shadow home secretary. Former foreign secretary David Cameron chose to retire from frontline politics, with his former deputy Andrew Mitchell becoming shadow foreign secretary instead. Richard Holden resigned as party chair, and was succeeded by Richard Fuller in an interim capacity outside Shadow Cabinet.

Sunak appointed new officeholders to the portfolios held by the eleven cabinet ministers who lost their seats in the election, including Edward Argar, who became shadow justice secretary after the outgoing justice secretary Alex Chalk lost his seat, as well as Helen Whately, who became shadow transport secretary after the outgoing transport secretary Mark Harper also lost his seat. Among other noteworthy appointments, Kemi Badenoch became the shadow levelling up, housing and communities secretary and former deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden became deputy leader of the opposition.

Shadow cabinet appointments

Key

	Sits in the House of Commons
	Sits in the House of Lords

Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet of the United Kingdom

Portfolio	Shadow Minister			Term
Shadow cabinet ministers
Leader of the Opposition Leader of the Conservative Party			The Rt Hon Rishi Sunak MP	July 2024 – present
Deputy Leader of the Opposition Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster			The Rt Hon Sir Oliver Dowden KCB CBE MP	July 2024 – present
Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer			The Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP	July 2024 – present
Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs			The Rt Hon Andrew Mitchell MP	July 2024 – present
Shadow Home Secretary			The Rt Hon James Cleverly TD VR MP	July 2024 – present
Shadow Secretary of State for Defence			James Cartlidge MP	July 2024 – present
Shadow Secretary of State for Justice			The Rt Hon Ed Argar MP	July 2024 – present
Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology			Andrew Griffith MP	July 2024 – present
Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care			The Rt Hon Victoria Atkins MP	July 2024 – present
Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities			The Rt Hon Kemi Badenoch MP	July 2024 – present
Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs			The Rt Hon Steve Barclay MP	July 2024 – present
Shadow Leader of the House of Commons			The Rt Hon Chris Philp MP	July 2024 – present
Shadow Leader of the House of Lords			The Rt Hon The Lord True CBE PC	July 2024 – present
Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade			Kevin Hollinrake MP	July 2024 – present
Shadow Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero			The Rt Hon Claire Coutinho MP	July 2024 – present
Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions			The Rt Hon Mel Stride MP	July 2024 – present
Shadow Secretary of State for Education			The Rt Hon Damian Hinds MP	July 2024 – present
Shadow Secretary of State for Transport			Helen Whately MP	July 2024 – present
Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport			Julia Lopez MP	July 2024 – present
Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland			Alex Burghart MP	July 2024 – present
Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland			John Lamont MP	July 2024 – present
Shadow Secretary of State for Wales			The Rt Hon The Lord Davies of Gower	July 2024 – present
Also attending shadow cabinet meetings
Opposition Chief Whip			The Rt Hon Stuart Andrew MP	July 2024 – present
Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury			The Rt Hon Laura Trott MBE MP	July 2024 – present
Shadow Attorney General			The Rt Hon Jeremy Wright KC MP	July 2024 – present
Shadow Paymaster General			The Rt Hon John Glen MP	July 2024 – present
Shadow Minister for Security			The Rt Hon Tom Tugendhat MBE VR MP	July 2024 – present
Shadow Minister for Veterans			Andrew Bowie MP	July 2024 – present
Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities			Mims Davies MP	July 2024 – present

Changes

Changes from Sunak's final Cabinet to Shadow Cabinet.

• The Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton (Foreign Secretary) resigned and was succeeded by Andrew Mitchell (who was Deputy Foreign Secretary for question time in the Commons and attended Cabinet as Minister of State for Development and Africa, a role that has not had a successor named).
• Grant Shapps (Defence Secretary) lost his seat and was succeeded by James Cartlidge.
• Alex Chalk (Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor) lost his seat and was succeeded by Ed Argar.
• Michelle Donelan (Science Secretary) lost her seat and was succeeded by Andrew Griffith.
• Michael Gove (Housing and Communities Secretary and Minister for Intergovernmental Relations) stood down and was succeeded in the former role by Kemi Badenoch; the latter role has not had a successor named.
• Badenoch (Business Secretary and Minister for Women and Equalities) was succeeded by Kevin Hollinrake in the former role and Mims Davies in the latter role.
• Penny Mordaunt (Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council) lost her seat and was succeeded by Chris Philp.
• Gillian Keegan (Education Secretary) lost her seat and was succeeded by Damian Hinds.
• Mark Harper (Transport Secretary) lost his seat and was succeeded by Helen Whately.
• Lucy Frazer (Culture Secretary) lost her seat and was succeeded by Julia Lopez.
• Richard Holden (Minister without Portfolio and party chair) resigned and was succeeded by Richard Fuller in an interim capacity outside Shadow Cabinet.
• Chris Heaton-Harris (Northern Ireland Secretary) stood down and was succeeded by Alex Burghart.
• Alister Jack (Scotland Secretary) stood down and was succeeded by John Lamont.
• David TC Davies (Wales Secretary) lost his seat and was succeeded by The Lord Davies of Gower.
• Simon Hart (Chief Whip of the House of Commons and Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury), who attended Cabinet, lost his seat and was succeeded by Stuart Andrew.
• Victoria Prentis (Attorney General for England and Wales and Advocate General for Northern Ireland), who attended Cabinet, lost her seat and was succeeded by Jeremy Wright.
• Johnny Mercer (Minister of State for Veterans' Affairs), who attended Cabinet, lost his seat and was succeeded by Andrew Bowie.
• Michael Tomlinson (Minister of State for Countering Illegal Migration), who attended Cabinet, lost his seat and a successor has not been named.