Elections to the Labour Party's Shadow Cabinet took place in July 1996. Under the rules then in effect, the Commons members of the Parliamentary Labour Party elected 19 members of the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet, who were then assigned portfolios by the leader. The Labour peers elected the Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords. In addition, the Leader of the Labour Party and Deputy Leader (Tony Blair and John Prescott, respectively) were members by virtue of those offices. The 19 elected members of the Shadow Cabinet were the ones with the largest number of votes. MPs were required to vote for at least four women, but women were not necessarily guaranteed places in the Shadow Cabinet.
Colourkey Retained in the Shadow Cabinet Joined the Shadow Cabinet Voted out of the Shadow Cabinet
Rank Candidate Constituency Votes 1 Derby South 251 2 Dewsbury 250 3 Birmingham Ladywood 218 4 Edinburgh East 217 5 Livingston 215 6 Glasgow Garscadden 212 7 Holborn and St Pancras 211 8 Redcar 206 9† South Shields 205 9† Oldham West 205 11 Caerphilly 201 12 Copeland 190 13 Blackburn 189 14† Dunfermline East 188 14† Islington South and Finsbury 148 16 Hamilton 182 17† Sheffield Brightside 175 17† Monklands West 175 19 Peckham 149 20 Cynon Valley 94 21† Birmingham Selly Oak 66 21† Sunderland South 66 23 Paul Flynn Newport West 61 24 Newham North West 47 25 Falkirk West 42 26 Islington North 37 † Multiple candidates tied for position.
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