Shadow Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

{{Short description|Senior Member of the Shadow Cabinet}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox official post | post = Shadow Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom | image = | incumbent = ''Vacant'' | incumbentsince = 5 November 2024 | appointer = Leader of the Opposition | formation = | first = | website = [https://members.parliament.uk/opposition/cabinet Shadow Cabinet] }}

The '''Shadow Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom''' is a position in the United Kingdom's Shadow Cabinet that was created on 6 December 2005 by the then-Leader of the Opposition, David Cameron for his shadow cabinet. From 2005 to 2010, the office was known as '''Senior Member of the Shadow Cabinet''', and from 2015 to 2023, the office was known as '''Shadow First Secretary of State'''. From 2010 to 2015 and again since 2023, the office has been known as '''Shadow Deputy Prime Minister'''.

Even though the role has no specific responsibilities attached to it, the holder of the position shadows the First Secretary of State and/or Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and deputises for the Leader of the Opposition in Prime Minister's Questions when the First Secretary or Deputy PM is deputising for the Prime Minister.<ref>{{cite news|title=Brexit: Green and Thornberry Prime Minister's Questions clash|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-40580156|accessdate=12 July 2017|work=BBC News Online}}</ref>

Since 5 November 2024, the position is vacant with several Shadow Cabinet members informally deputising for the Leader of the Opposition. The most recent holder of the position is Oliver Dowden.

==List of Shadow Deputy Prime Ministers== {|class="wikitable" ! colspan=8 | ===Deputy Leader of the Opposition=== |- ! colspan=3|Deputy Leader ! colspan=2|Term of Office ! Concurrent position ! Political Party ! Leader of the Opposition |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Liberal Party (UK)}}" | | colspan="2" |''Vacant'' | 6 December 1916{{efn|name=Asquith}} | 14 December 1918 | | Liberal | {{Party shading/Liberal Party (UK)}} | H. H. Asquith |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Liberal Party (UK)}}" | | colspan="2" |''Unknown'' | 14 December 1918 | 25 February 1920 | | Liberal | {{Party shading/Liberal Party (UK)}} | Donald Maclean |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Liberal Party (UK)}}" | | Donald Maclean | 70px | 25 February 1920 | 15 November 1922 | Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party | Liberal | {{Party shading/Liberal Party (UK)}} | H. H. Asquith |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | Stephen Walsh | 70px | 15 November 1922 | 22 November 1922 | Deputy Leader of the Labour Party | Labour | {{Party shading/Labour}} | J. R. Clynes |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | J. R. Clynes | 70px | 22 November 1922 | 22 January 1924 | Deputy Leader of the Labour Party | Labour | {{Party shading/Labour}} | Ramsay MacDonald |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" | | colspan="2" |''Unknown'' | 22 January 1924 | 4 November 1924 | | Conservative | {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Stanley Baldwin |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | J. R. Clynes | 70px | 4 November 1924 | 4 June 1929 | Deputy Leader of the Labour Party | Labour | {{Party shading/Labour}} | Ramsay MacDonald |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" | | colspan="2" |''Unknown'' | 4 June 1929 | 24 August 1931 | | Conservative | {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Stanley Baldwin |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | J. R. Clynes | 70px | 24 August 1931 | 27 October 1931 | Deputy Leader of the Labour Party | Labour | {{Party shading/Labour}} | Arthur Henderson |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | colspan="2" |''Unknown'' | 27 October 1931 | 5 November 1931 | | Labour | {{Party shading/Labour}} | ''Unknown''{{efn|name=fnHendersonLoss}} |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | Clement Attlee | 70px | 5 November 1931 | 8 October 1935 | Deputy Leader of the Labour Party (1932–1935) | Labour | {{Party shading/Labour}} | George Lansbury |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | colspan="2" |''Vacant'' | 8 October 1935 | 26 November 1935 | | Labour | rowspan=2 {{Party shading/Labour}} | Clement Attlee |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | Arthur Greenwood | 70px | 26 November 1935 | 22 May 1940 | Deputy Leader of the Labour Party | Labour |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | rowspan="2" colspan="2" |''Unknown'' | rowspan="2" | 22 May 1940 | rowspan="2" | 22 February 1942 | rowspan="2" | | rowspan="2" | Labour | {{Party shading/Labour}} | Hastings Lees-Smith |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | {{Party shading/Labour}} | Frederick Pethick-Lawrence |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | Frederick Pethick-Lawrence | 70px | 22 February 1942 | 23 May 1945 | | Labour | {{Party shading/Labour}} | Arthur Greenwood |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | Arthur Greenwood | 70px | 23 May 1945 | 26 July 1945 | Deputy Leader of the Labour Party | Labour | {{Party shading/Labour}} | Clement Attlee |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" | | Anthony Eden | 70px | 26 July 1945 | 26 October 1951 | Shadow Foreign Secretary | Conservative | rowspan=2 {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Winston Churchill |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" | | Oliver Stanley ''Acting'' | 70px | ''January 1949''<ref>{{cite news |title=Mr Oliver Stanley 's Lifetime of Political Service |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ddk-AAAAIBAJ&dq=Oliver+Stanley&pg=PA3&article_id=5620,6951935 |access-date=9 May 2025 |work=The Glasgow Herald |date=12 December 1950 |page=8}}</ref> | ''March 1949'' | Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer | Conservative |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | Herbert Morrison | 70px | 26 October 1951 | 25 November 1955 | Deputy Leader of the Labour Party | Labour | {{Party shading/Labour}} | Clement Attlee |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | rowspan="2" colspan="2" |''Vacant'' | rowspan="2" | 25 November 1955 | rowspan="2" | 2 February 1956 | rowspan="2" | | rowspan="2" | Labour | {{Party shading/Labour}} | Herbert Morrison |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | rowspan="5" {{Party shading/Labour}} | Hugh Gaitskell |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | Jim Griffiths | 70px | 2 February 1956 | 24 October 1959 | Deputy Leader of the Labour Party | Labour |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | Aneurin Bevan | 70px | 24 October 1959 | 6 July 1960 | Deputy Leader of the Labour Party Shadow Foreign Secretary | Labour |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | colspan="2" |''Vacant'' | 6 July 1960 | 10 November 1960 | | Labour |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | George Brown | 70px | 10 November 1960 | 18 January 1963 | Deputy Leader of the Labour Party Shadow Minister of Defence (1960–1962) Shadow Home Secretary (1962–1963) | Labour |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | colspan="2" |''Vacant'' | 18 January 1963 | 14 February 1963 | | Labour | {{Party shading/Labour}} | George Brown |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | George Brown | 70px | 14 February 1963 | 16 October 1964 | Deputy Leader of the Labour Party Shadow Home Secretary | Labour | {{Party shading/Labour}} | Harold Wilson |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" | | colspan="2" |''Unknown'' | 16 October 1964 | 29 October 1964 | | Conservative | rowspan="2" {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Alec Douglas-Home |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" | | rowspan="2" | Reginald Maudling | rowspan="2" | 70px | rowspan="2" | 29 October 1964 | rowspan="2" | 20 June 1970 | rowspan="2" | Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer (1964–1965) Shadow Foreign Secretary (1965) Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party (1965–1970) Shadow Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs (1966–1968) Shadow Secretary of State for Defence (1968) | rowspan="2" | Conservative |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" | | {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Edward Heath |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | colspan="2" |''Vacant'' | 20 June 1970 | 8 July 1970 | | Labour | {{Party shading/Labour}} rowspan="4" | Harold Wilson |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | Roy Jenkins | 70px | 8 July 1970 | 10 April 1972 | Deputy Leader of the Labour Party Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer | Labour |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | colspan="2" |''Vacant'' | 10 April 1972 | 25 April 1972 | | Labour |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | Edward Short | 70px | 25 April 1972 | 4 March 1974 | Deputy Leader of the Labour Party Shadow Secretary of State for Education and Science (1972) Shadow Leader of the House of Commons (1972–1974) | Labour |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" | | colspan="2" |''Vacant'' | 4 March 1974 | 12 March 1974 | | Conservative | {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} rowspan="2" | Edward Heath |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" | | Robert Carr | 70px | 12 March 1974 | 11 February 1975 | Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer | Conservative |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" | | William Whitelaw | 70px | 11 February 1975 | 4 May 1979 | Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party Shadow Home Secretary (1976–1979) | Conservative | {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Margaret Thatcher |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | Michael Foot | 70px | 4 May 1979 | 13 November 1980 | Deputy Leader of the Labour Party Shadow Leader of the House of Commons | Labour | {{Party shading/Labour}} | James Callaghan |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | Denis Healey | 70px | 13 November 1980 | 2 October 1983 | Deputy Leader of the Labour Party Shadow Foreign Secretary | Labour | {{Party shading/Labour}} | Michael Foot |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | Roy Hattersley | 70px | 2 October 1983 | 18 July 1992 | Deputy Leader of the Labour Party Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer (1983–1987) Shadow Home Secretary (1987–1992) | Labour | {{Party shading/Labour}} | Neil Kinnock |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | Margaret Beckett | 70px | 18 July 1992 | 12 May 1994 | Deputy Leader of the Labour Party Shadow Leader of the House of Commons | Labour | {{Party shading/Labour}} | John Smith |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | colspan="2" |''Vacant'' | 12 May 1994 | 21 July 1994 | | Labour | {{Party shading/Labour}} | Margaret Beckett |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | John Prescott | 70px | 21 July 1994 | 2 May 1997 | Deputy Leader of the Labour Party | Labour | {{Party shading/Labour}} | Tony Blair |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" | | Michael Heseltine | 106x106px | 2 May 1997 | 19 June 1997 | Shadow Secretary of State for Trade and Industry Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster | Conservative | {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | John Major |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" | | colspan="2" |''Vacant'' | 19 June 1997 | 1 June 1998 | | Conservative | rowspan="4" {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} |William Hague |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" | | Peter Lilley | 70px | 1 June 1998 | 15 June 1999 | Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party | Conservative |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" | | colspan="2" |''Vacant'' | 15 June 1999 | 1 February 2000 | | Conservative |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" | | Michael Portillo | 70px | 1 February 2000 | 18 September 2001 | Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer | Conservative |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" | | Michael Ancram | 70px | 18 September 2001 | 6 December 2005 | Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party Shadow Foreign Secretary (2001–2005) Shadow Secretary of State for Defence (2005) | Conservative | {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Iain Duncan Smith Michael Howard |- ! colspan=8 |

===Senior Member of the Shadow Cabinet=== |- ! colspan=3|Senior Member ! colspan=2|Term of Office ! Concurrent position ! Political Party ! Leader of the Opposition |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" | | William Hague | 93x93px | 6 December 2005 | 11 May 2010 | Shadow Foreign Secretary | Conservative | {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | David Cameron |- ! colspan=8 |

===Shadow Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom=== |- ! colspan=3|Shadow Deputy Prime Minister ! colspan=2|Term of Office ! Concurrent position ! Political Party ! Leader of the Opposition |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | Jack Straw | 93x93px | 11 May 2010 | 25 September 2010 | Shadow Secretary of State for Justice Shadow Lord Chancellor | Labour | {{Party shading/Labour}} | Harriet Harman |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | Harriet Harman | 70px | 7 October 2010 | 8 May 2015 | Deputy Leader of the Opposition Deputy Leader of the Labour Party Chair of the Labour Party Shadow Secretary of State for International Development (2010–2011) Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (2011–2015) | Labour | {{Party shading/Labour}} | Ed Miliband |- ! colspan=8 |

===Shadow First Secretary of State=== |- ! colspan=3|Shadow First Secretary ! colspan=2|Term of Office ! Concurrent position ! Political Party ! Leader of the Opposition |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | Hilary Benn | 93x93px | 11 May 2015 | 13 September 2015 | Shadow Foreign Secretary | Labour | {{Party shading/Labour}} | Harriet Harman |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | Angela Eagle | 93x93px | 13 September 2015 | 27 June 2016 | Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills | Labour | rowspan="3" {{Party shading/Labour}} | Jeremy Corbyn |- | colspan="7" | ''Office not in use from June 2016 to June 2017.'' |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | Emily Thornberry | 93x93px | 14 June 2017 | 5 April 2020 | Shadow Foreign Secretary | Labour |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | Angela Rayner | 70px | 9 April 2020 | 4 September 2023 | Deputy Leader of the Opposition Deputy Leader of the Labour Party Chair of the Labour Party (2020–2021) Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (2021–2023) Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office (2021–2023) | Labour | {{Party shading/Labour}} | Keir Starmer |- ! colspan=8 |

===Shadow Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom=== |- ! colspan="3" |Shadow Deputy Prime Minister ! colspan="2" |Term of Office ! Concurrent position ! Political Party ! Leader of the Opposition |- ! style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" | | Angela Rayner | 93x93px | 4 September 2023 | 5 July 2024 | Deputy Leader of the Opposition Deputy Leader of the Labour Party Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities | Labour | {{Party shading/Labour}} | Keir Starmer |- | ! style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" | | Oliver Dowden | 70px | 5 July 2024 | 5 November 2024 | Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster | Conservative | {{Party shading/Conservative (UK)}} | Rishi Sunak |- | colspan="8" | ''Office not in use Since November 2024.'' |}

==Notes== {{notelist |refs={{efn|name=Asquith|Asquith does not appear to have appointed a formal deputy however it appears that Reginald McKenna, Herbert Samuel and Walter Runciman served as de facto deputy leaders.<ref>{{cite news |title=London Correspondence |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Ps1AAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA7&dq=deputy+leader+liberal+party&article_id=1373,5707490&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwikxYuc4NGTAxXNVUEAHQBnGCk4PBDoAXoECAsQAw#v=onepage&q=deputy%20leader%20liberal%20party&f=false |access-date=3 April 2026 |work=The Glasgow Herald |date=7 December 1917 |page=7}}</ref>}}{{efn|name=fnHendersonLoss|Labour leader Henderson and deputy leader Clynes lost their seats in the House of Commons on 27 October 1931.}} }}

==References== {{reflist}}

Category:Official Opposition (United Kingdom) Category:2005 establishments in the United Kingdom