Shadow Cabinet of Michael Foot

Michael Foot was Leader of the Opposition from 4 November 1980, following his victory in the 1980 leadership election, to 2 October 1983, when he was replaced by Neil Kinnock at the 1983 leadership election. The 1980 leadership contest was triggered by James Callaghan's loss at the 1979 general election, and the 1983 contest by Foot's own disastrous defeat in the 1983 general election.

Until 2011, the Labour MPs elected the bulk of the membership of the Shadow Cabinet. The leader was expected to assign portfolios to those elected, but was able to assign portfolios to MPs not elected to the Shadow Cabinet and to refuse to assign portfolios to elected members. For example, William Rodgers was not given a portfolio despite winning in the 1980 Shadow Cabinet elections. When he left the party months later to help create the Social Democratic Party, Tony Benn automatically joined the Shadow Cabinet. Foot also chose not to give the more radical Benn a portfolio. When Benn lost in the 1981 Shadow Cabinet elections, all the new members received portfolios (Shadow Minister for Europe became a Shadow Cabinet post for the rest of Foot's tenure as leader).

Shadow Cabinet List

Portfolio	Shadow Minister	Term
Leader of Her Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition Leader of the Labour Party	The Rt Hon. Michael Foot	1980–1983
Deputy Leader of the Labour Party Shadow Foreign Secretary	The Rt Hon. Denis Healey	1980–1983
Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer	The Rt Hon. Peter Shore	1980–1983
Shadow Home Secretary	The Rt Hon. Roy Hattersley	1980–1983
Shadow Secretary of State for Defence	Brynmor John	1980–1981
Shadow Secretary of State for Defence	The Rt Hon. John Silkin	1981–1983
Shadow Leader of the House of Commons	The Rt Hon. John Silkin	1980–1983
Shadow Secretary of State for Industry	The Rt Hon. Stanley Orme	1980–1983
Shadow Secretary of State for Employment	The Rt Hon. Eric Varley	1980–1983
Shadow Secretary of State for Environment	The Rt Hon. Gerald Kaufman	1980–1983
Shadow minister with responsibility for policy development	The Rt Hon. Merlyn Rees	1982–1983
Shadow Secretary of State for Energy	The Rt Hon. Merlyn Rees	1980–1982
Shadow Secretary of State for Energy	The Rt Hon. John Smith	1982–1983
Shadow Secretary of State for Trade	The Rt Hon. John Smith	1980–1982
Shadow Secretary of State for Trade	The Rt Hon. Peter Archer	1982–1983
Shadow Secretary of State for Transport	The Rt Hon. Albert Booth	1980–1983
Shadow Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food	The Rt Hon. Roy Mason	1980–1981
Shadow Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food	Norman Buchan	1981–1983
Shadow Secretary of State for Social Services	Norman Buchan	1980–1981
Shadow Secretary of State for Social Services	Brynmor John	1981–1983
Shadow Secretary of State for Education and Science	Neil Kinnock	1980–1983
Shadow Secretary of State for Health	The Hon. Gwyneth Dunwoody	1980–1983
Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland	The Rt Hon. Bruce Millan	1980–1983
Shadow Secretary of State for Wales	The Rt Hon. Alec Jones	1980–1983
Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland	The Rt Hon. Don Concannon	1980–1983
Shadow Minister for Overseas Development	Frank McElhone	1980–1982
Shadow Minister for Overseas Development	Guy Barnett	1982–1983
Shadow Minister without Portfolio	The Rt Hon. William Rodgers	1980–1981
Shadow Minister without Portfolio	The Rt Hon. Tony Benn	1981
Shadow Minister for Europe	Eric Heffer	1981–1983
Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords	The Rt Hon. The Lord Peart PC	1980–1982
Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords	The Rt Hon. The Lord Cledwyn of Penrhos PC	1982–1983
Opposition Chief Whip in the House of Commons	The Rt Hon. Michael Cocks	1980–1983
Opposition Chief Whip in the House of Lords	The Rt Hon. The Baroness Llewelyn-Davies of Hastoe PC	1980–1982
Opposition Chief Whip in the House of Lords	The Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede	1982–1983
Shadow Attorney General	The Rt Hon. John Morris	1980–1981
	The Rt Hon. Peter Archer	1981–1982
	The Rt Hon. Arthur Davidson	1982–1983

Initial Shadow Cabinet

Foot announced his first Shadow Cabinet on 8 December 1980, following the 1980 Shadow Cabinet elections.[1]

Changes

27 January 1981: Rodgers resigned from the Shadow Cabinet and was replaced by Tony Benn. This came days after Rodgers, Shirley Williams, David Owen, and Roy Jenkins (the "Gang of Four") created the Council for Social Democracy,[2] a step along the way to their creation of the Social Democratic Party.

1981 reshuffle

On 24 November 1981, after the 1981 Shadow Cabinet elections, Foot reshuffled the Shadow Cabinet. Brynmor John moved from Defence to Social Services and was replaced by Silkin, who retained the post of Shadow Leader of the House. Buchnan replaced Mason at Agriculture. Benn, Mason, and Morris were dropped from the Shadow Cabinet. Peter Archer and Eric Heffer joined the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Attorney General and Shadow Minister for Europe, respectively.[3]

Changes

22 September 1982: McElhone died, replaced by Guy Barnett.
4 November 1982: Lord Cledwyn of Penrhos defeated the incumbent leader in the Lords, Lord Peart, by 60–37.[4] Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede also succeeded Baroness Llewelyn-Davies as Lords Chief Whip for Labour.
24 November 1982: Foot conducted a mini-reshuffle following the 1982 Shadow Cabinet elections. Smith moved from Trade to Energy, and Rees moved to a "policy role".[5] Archer replaced Smith at Trade.[6] In turn, Arthur Davidson replaced him as Shadow Attorney General until he lost his seat in the 1983 General Election, when John Morris returned to the role of Shadow Attorney General (which he would hold through successive leaders until 1997, when he became Attorney General).[7]
20 March 1983: Jones Died, replaced by Denzil Davies[8]

References

William Russell (9 December 1980). "Rodgers out in cold". The Glasgow Herald. p. 1.
"Labour rebel quits shadow cabinet". Vancouver Sun. Vancouver, British Columbia. Associated Press. p. A9.
"Silkin springs to Foot's defence". Evening Times. 24 November 1981. p. 4.
"No whip's job for Canavan". The Glasgow Herald. 5 November 1982. p. 6.
William Russell (24 November 1982). "Shadow Cabinet takes on a familiar look". p. 1.
"Lord Archer of Sandwell". House of Lords Information Office. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
"Lord Morris of Aberavon". House of Lords Information Office. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
"Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 August 2020. Retrieved 19 February 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

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[1] William Russell (9 December 1980). "Rodgers out in cold". The Glasgow Herald. p. 1.

[2] "Labour rebel quits shadow cabinet". Vancouver Sun. Vancouver, British Columbia. Associated Press. p. A9.

[3] "Silkin springs to Foot's defence". Evening Times. 24 November 1981. p. 4.

[4] "No whip's job for Canavan". The Glasgow Herald. 5 November 1982. p. 6.

[5] William Russell (24 November 1982). "Shadow Cabinet takes on a familiar look". p. 1.

[6] "Lord Archer of Sandwell". House of Lords Information Office. Retrieved 23 September 2011.

[7] "Lord Morris of Aberavon". House of Lords Information Office. Retrieved 23 September 2011.

[8] "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 August 2020. Retrieved 19 February 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

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–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

Michael Foot
Political career	Leader of the Labour Party (1980–1983) Shadow Cabinet Deputy Leader of the Labour Party (1976-1980) Member of Parliament for Plymouth Devonport (1945–1955) Member of Parliament for Ebbw Vale (1960–1983) Member of Parliament for Blaenau Gwent (1983–1992)
Shadow Cabinet elections	1970 1971 1972 1973
Party leadership elections	1976 1980
Party deputy leadership elections	1970 1971 1972 1976
General elections	1983
Family	Isaac Foot (father) Dingle Foot (brother) Hugh Foot, Baron Caradon (brother) John Foot, Baron Foot (brother) Jill Craigie (wife) Paul Foot (nephew) Oliver Foot (nephew) Sarah Foot (niece)
Related topics	Guilty Men Keep Left Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament Tribune 1960 Ebbw Vale by-election 1975 European Communities referendum The longest suicide note in history Michael Foot memorial