Second Shadow Cabinet of Harold Wilson

Second Shadow Cabinet of Harold Wilson
Second Shadow Cabinet of Harold Wilson
; Shadow Cabinet of the United Kingdom
1970 – 1974
Date formed	19 June 1970
Date dissolved	4 March 1974
People and organisations
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Leader of the Opposition	Harold Wilson
Deputy Leader of the Opposition	Roy Jenkins (1970–72); Edward Short (1972–74)
Member party	Labour Party;
Status in legislature	Official Opposition 288 / 630 (46%)
History
Election	1970 United Kingdom general election
Legislature terms	45th UK Parliament
Predecessor	First Shadow Cabinet of Edward Heath
Successor	Second Shadow Cabinet of Edward Heath

Harold Wilson 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 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. 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

Harold Wilson, Leader of the Opposition (1970–1974)

June 1970

Portfolio	Shadow Minister	Term
Leader of Her Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition Leader of the Labour Party	The Rt Hon. Harold Wilson	1970 – 1974
Deputy Leader of the Opposition	The Rt Hon. Roy Jenkins	1970 – 1972
Deputy Leader of the Opposition	The Rt Hon. Edward Short	1972 – 1974
Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer	The Rt Hon. Roy Jenkins	1970 – 1972
Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer	The Rt Hon. Denis Healey	1972 – 1974
Shadow Foreign Secretary	The Rt Hon. Denis Healey	1970 – 1972
Shadow Foreign Secretary	The Rt Hon. James Callaghan	1972 – 1974
Shadow Home Secretary	The Rt Hon. James Callaghan	1970 – 1971
	Shirley Williams	1971 – 1973
	The Rt Hon. Roy Jenkins	1973 – 1974
Shadow Secretary of State for Employment	The Rt Hon. Barbara Castle	1970 – 1971
	The Rt Hon. James Callaghan	1971 – 1972
	The Rt Hon. Reg Prentice	1972 – 1974
Shadow Leader of the House of Commons	The Rt Hon. Fred Peart	1970 – 1971
	The Rt Hon. Michael Foot	1971 – 1972
	The Rt Hon. Edward Short	1972 – 1974
Shadow Secretary of State for Education and Science	The Rt Hon. Edward Short	1970 – 1972
	Unknown	1972 – 1973
	The Rt Hon. Roy Hattersley	1973 – 1974
Shadow Secretary of State for Trade and Industry	The Rt Hon. Tony Benn	1970 – 1972
Shadow Secretary of State for Trade and Industry	The Rt Hon. Harold Lever	1972 – 1974
Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment	The Rt Hon. Anthony Crosland	1970 – 1974
Shadow Secretary of State for Defence	The Rt Hon. George Thomson	1970 – 1972
Shadow Secretary of State for Defence	The Rt Hon. Fred Peart	1972 – 1974
Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Services	Shirley Williams	1970 – 1971
	The Rt Hon. Barbara Castle	1971 – 1972
	John Silkin	1972–1974
Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland	The Rt Hon. William Ross	1970 – 1974
Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland	The Rt Hon. Merlyn Rees	1972 – 1974
Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords	The Rt Hon.The Lord Shackleton PC	1970 – 1974
Opposition Chief Whip in the House of Commons	The Rt Hon. Bob Mellish	1970 – 1974
Shadow Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food	The Rt Hon. Cledwyn Hughes	1970 – 1971
Shadow Minister of Power	Michael Foot	1970 – 1971
Shadow Minister for Europe	The Rt Hon. Harold Lever	1970 – 1971
	Peter Shore	1971 – 1972
	Michael Foot	1972 – 1974

Changes

1971

James Callaghan 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 James Callaghan 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

1972

Reg Prentice joins the shadow cabinet, replacing James Callaghan as Shadow Employment Secretary
James Callaghan replaces Denis Healey as Shadow Foreign Secretary
Denis Healey replaces Roy Jenkins as Shadow Chancellor
Fred Peart replaces George Thomson as Shadow Defence Secretary
Edward Short replaces Roy Jenkins as Deputy Leader of the Opposition and takes Fred Peart's former post, Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Roy Jenkins is removed from the shadow cabinet
Michael Foot replaces Peter Shore as Shadow Europe Minister
Harold Lever replaces Tony Benn as Shadow Trade and Industry Secretary
Merlyn Rees joins the shadow cabinet with a newly created post: Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Barbara Castle is removed from the shadow cabinet

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

Patrick Bell (2004), "Principal Labour Shadow Cabinet ... 1970-74", Labour Party in Opposition 1970–1974, Routledge, p. xvii, ISBN 9780714654560

v t e Shadow Cabinets of the United Kingdom
Official Opposition	Wilson I (1963–1964) Douglas-Home (1964–1965) Heath I (1965–1970) Wilson II (1970–1974) Heath II (1974–1975) Thatcher (1975–1979) Callaghan (1979–1980) Foot (1980–1983) Kinnock (1983–1992) Smith (1992–1994) Beckett (1994) Blair (1994–1997) Major (1997) Hague (1997–2001) Duncan Smith (2001–2003) Howard (2003–2005) Cameron (2005–2010) Harman I (2010) Miliband (2010–2015) Harman II (2015) Corbyn (2015–2020) Starmer (2020–2024) Sunak (2024) Badenoch (2024–present)
Liberal Democrats	Ashdown (1997–1999) Kennedy (1999–2006) Campbell (2006–2007) Cable I (2007) Clegg (2007–2010) Farron (2015–2017) Cable II (2017–2019) Swinson (2019) Davey (2020–present)
Scottish National Party	Robertson (2015–2017) Blackford (2017–2022) Flynn (2022–present)
1964 to Present