In British politics, the shadow home secretary (formally known as the shadow secretary of state for the home department) is the person within the shadow cabinet who shadows the home secretary; this effectively means scrutinising government policy on home affairs including policing, national security, and matters of citizenship. The shadow home secretary also formerly had responsibility for the criminal justice system and the prison service; these responsibilities are now held by the shadow justice secretary. If the opposition party is elected to government, the Shadow Home Secretary often becomes the new Home Secretary, though this is not always the case. The office is currently held by Chris Philp, a member of the Conservative shadow cabinet.
In recent decades, the positions of home secretary and shadow home secretary have alternated between the Conservative and Labour parties. The corresponding position for the Liberal Democrats is the Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesperson.
List of shadow home secretaries
NamePortraitEntered officeLeft officePartyShadow Cabinet James Chuter Ede 26 October 1951 Unclear Labour AttleeKenneth Younger15 July 195524 January 1958 GaitskellPatrick Gordon-Walker24 January 195830 November 1961 LabourGeorge Brown30 November 196116 October 1964 Labour WilsonHenry Brooke16 October 196429 October 1964 Conservative Douglas-HomeEdward Boyle29 October 196416 February 1965 ConservativePeter Thorneycroft16 February 196513 April 1966Conservative HeathQuintin Hogg13 April 196618 June 1970ConservativeJames Callaghan18 June 197019 October 1971 Labour Wilson IIShirley Williams19 October 197125 November 1973 LabourRoy Jenkins25 November 19734 March 1974 LabourRobert Carr4 March 197411 March 1974 Conservative Heath IIJim Prior11 March 197412 June 1974 ConservativeKeith Joseph12 June 197411 February 1975 ConservativeIan Gilmour18 February 197515 January 1976 Conservative ThatcherWilliam Whitelaw11 April 19764 May 1979 ConservativeMerlyn Rees4 May 19794 November 1980 Labour CallaghanRoy Hattersley4 November 198031 October 1983 Labour FootGerald Kaufman31 October 198313 July 1987 Labour KinnockRoy Hattersley13 July 198724 July 1992 LabourTony Blair24 July 199221 July 1994 Labour Smith BeckettJack Straw20 October 19942 May 1997 Labour BlairMichael Howard2 May 199711 June 1997 Conservative MajorBrian Mawhinney11 June 19972 June 1998 Conservative HagueNorman Fowler2 June 199815 June 1999 ConservativeAnn Widdecombe15 June 199918 September 2001 ConservativeOliver Letwin18 September 200110 November 2003 Conservative Duncan Smith David Davis 10 November 2003 12 June 2008 Conservative Howard CameronDominic Grieve12 June 200819 January 2009 ConservativeChris Grayling19 January 200911 May 2010 ConservativeAlan Johnson12 May 20108 October 2010 Labour Harman IEd Balls8 October 201020 January 2011 Labour MilibandYvette Cooper20 January 201114 September 2015 Labour Harman IIAndy Burnham14 September 20156 October 2016 Labour CorbynDiane Abbott6 October 20165 April 2020 LabourNick Thomas-Symonds5 April 202029 November 2021 Labour StarmerYvette Cooper29 November 20215 July 2024 LabourJames Cleverly8 July 20245 November 2024 ConservativeSunakChris Philp5 November 2024Incumbent ConservativeBadenoch
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