Opposition Shadow Cabinets of the Scottish Parliament

Unlike in the Parliament at Westminster where there is an Official Opposition to the government of the day, all parties in the Scottish Parliament that are not in government are all technically on the same footing as 'opposition parties'. With the Scottish National Party (SNP) currently in government, the Scottish Conservatives and Scottish Labour each have a shadow cabinet composed of Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) and prospective parliamentary candidates.

Jackson Carlaw (left) and Ruth Davidson (right) on the Scottish Conservative frontbench in 2018

Shadow cabinet ministers have a responsibility to shadow an individual government minister or a specific area of government. Other parties have frontbench teams with spokespersons covering multiple areas of government or which are composed of spokespersons from both within and outwith the Scottish Parliament.

Current Shadow Cabinets

Current Conservative Shadow Cabinet

This section is an excerpt from Shadow Cabinet of Russell Findlay § Shadow Cabinet (2024–present).[edit]

Findlay Shadow Cabinet
Shadow Minister Constituency		Portfolio	Term
Shadow Cabinet Secretaries
	Russell Findlay MSP for West Scotland	Leader of the Scottish Conservatives	2024–present
	Rachael Hamilton MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire	Deputy Leader	2024–present
	Craig Hoy MSP for South Scotland	Finance and Local Government	2024–present
	Murdo Fraser MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife	Business, Economy, Tourism and Culture	2022–present
	Sandesh Gulhane MSP for Glasgow	Health and Social Care	2021–present
	Miles Briggs MSP for Lothian	Education and Skills	2024–present
	Douglas Lumsden MSP for North East Scotland	Net Zero and Energy	2022–present
	Liam Kerr MSP for North East Scotland	Justice	2024–present
	Liz Smith MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife	Social Security	2024–present
	Meghan Gallacher MSP for Central Scotland	Housing	2024–present
	Sue Webber MSP for Lothian	Transport	2024–present
	Tim Eagle MSP for Highlands and Islands	Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Fishing	2024–present
	Alexander Burnett MSP for Aberdeenshire West	Chief Whip	2024–present

Current Scottish Labour Shadow Cabinet

Sarwar Shadow Cabinet
Minister Constituency		Portfolio	Shadows	Term
Shadow Cabinet Secretaries
	Anas Sarwar MSP for Glasgow	Leader	John Swinney	2021–present
	Jackie Baillie MSP for Dumbarton	Depute Leader[1]	Kate Forbes	2021–present
		NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care and Drugs Policy	Neil Gray
	Michael Marra MSP for North East Scotland	Finance	Shona Robison	2023–present
	Daniel Johnson MSP for Edinburgh Southern	Economy, Business and Fair Work	Kate Forbes	2021–present
	Neil Bibby MSP for West Scotland	Constitution, External Affairs and Culture	Angus Robertson	2023-present
	Sarah Boyack MSP for Lothian	Net Zero, Energy, and Just Transition	Màiri McAllan	2023-present
	Pam Duncan-Glancy MSP for Glasgow	Education and Skills	Jenny Gilruth	2023-present
	Rhoda Grant MSP for Highlands and Islands	Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands	Mairi Gougeon	2023-present
	Pauline McNeill MSP for Glasgow	Justice	Angela Constance	2021-present
	Paul O'Kane MSP for West Scotland	Social Justice and Social Security, and Equalities	Shirley-Anne Somerville	2023-present
Junior ministers
	Alex Rowley MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife	Transport	Fiona Hyslop	2023-present
	Mark Griffin MSP for Central Scotland	Local Government and Housing	Paul McLennan	2023-present
	Foysol Choudhury MSP for Lothian	Culture, Europe and International Development	Tom Arthur	2023-present
	Katy Clark MSP for West Scotland	Community Safety	Siobhian Brown	2023-present
	Carol Mochan MSP for South Scotland	Public Health and Women’s Health	Jenni Minto	2023-present
	Paul Sweeney MSP for Glasgow	Mental Health and Veterans	Graeme Dey	2023-present
	Mercedes Villalba MSP for North East Scotland	Environment and Biodiversity	Alasdair Allan	2023-present
	Martin Whitfield MSP for South Scotland	Parliamentary Business Manager	Jamie Hepburn	2023-present
		Children and Young People	Natalie Don
	Colin Smyth MSP for South Scotland	Older persons' champion	Kaukab Stewart	2023-present
Westminster Cabinet Ministers
	Ian Murray MP for Edinburgh South	Secretary of State for Scotland	N/A	2024–present
	Douglas Alexander MP for Lothian East	Minister of State for Business and Trade	N/A	2024-present
	Kirsty McNeill MP for Midlothian	Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland	N/A	2024-present
	Michael Shanks MP for Rutherglen	Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero	N/A	2024-present

Conservative Shadow Cabinets

Current Shadow Cabinet

Main article: Shadow Cabinet of Douglas Ross

Previous Shadow Cabinets

Second Davidson Shadow Cabinet^{[2][3][4][n 1]}

Portfolio	Officeholder	Term
Leader	Ruth Davidson	2016–2020
Deputy Leader	Jackson Carlaw	2016–2020
Europe and External Affairs
Culture and Tourism		2016–2017
	Rachael Hamilton	2017–2020
Finance	Murdo Fraser	2016–2020
Economy, Jobs and Fair Work	Dean Lockhart	2016–2020
Health and Sport	Donald Cameron	2016–2017
	Miles Briggs	2017–2020
Education and Skills	Liz Smith	2016–2020
Constitution	Adam Tomkins	2016–2020
Social Security		2016–2018
	Michelle Ballantyne	2018–2020
Justice	Douglas Ross	2016–2017
	Liam Kerr	2017–2020
Rural Economy and Connectivity	Peter Chapman	2016–2020
Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform	Maurice Golden	2016–2017
	Donald Cameron	2017–2020
Chief Whip	John Lamont	2016–2017
	Maurice Golden	2017–2020

Carlaw Shadow Cabinet

Portfolio	Officeholder	Term
Leader	Jackson Carlaw	February–August 2020
Deputy Leader	Liam Kerr	February–August 2020
Justice
Deputy Leader	Annie Wells	February–August 2020
Climate Change, Environment and Land Reform
Finance	Donald Cameron	February–August 2020
Constitution and External Affairs	Murdo Fraser	February–August 2020
Strategy	Adam Tomkins	February–August 2020
Health	Miles Briggs	February–August 2020
Education	Jamie Greene	February–August 2020
Parliamentary Business Manager	Maurice Golden	February–August 2020
Climate Change, Environment and Land Reform
Economy, Fair Work and Culture
Business, Infrastructure and Transport	Dean Lockhart	February–August 2020
Rural Economy and Tourism	Rachael Hamilton	February–August 2020
Housing, Communities and Social Security	Graham Simpson	February–August 2020
Chief Whip	Liz Smith	February–August 2020

Ross–Davidson Shadow Cabinet

Portfolio	Officeholder	Term
Leader	Douglas Ross	2020–present
Leader in the Scottish Parliament	Ruth Davidson	2020–2021
Education and Skills	Jamie Greene	2020–present
Justice	Liam Kerr	2020–present
Health and Sport	Donald Cameron	2020–present
Finance	Murdo Fraser	2020–present
Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform	Liz Smith	2020–present
Rural Economy and Tourism	Jamie Halcro Johnston	2020–present
Constitution, Europe and External Affairs	Dean Lockhart	2020–present
Communities and Local Government	Annie Wells	2020–present
Economy, Fair Work and Culture	Maurice Golden	2020–present
Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity	Graham Simpson	2020–present
Social Security and Older People	Rachael Hamilton	2020–present
Chief Whip	Miles Briggs	2020–present

Scottish Labour Shadow Cabinets

Previous Shadow Cabinets

McConnell Shadow Cabinet^{[citation needed]}

Portfolio	Officeholder	Term
Leader	Jack McConnell	May–August 2007
Deputy Leader and Parliamentary Business	Cathy Jamieson	May–August 2007
Finance and Sustainable Growth	Wendy Alexander	May–August 2007
Education and Lifelong Learning	Hugh Henry	May–August 2007
Health and Wellbeing	Andy Kerr	May–August 2007
Justice	Margaret Curran	May–August 2007
Rural Affairs and Environment	Rhona Brankin	May–August 2007
Junior Opposition posts
Europe, External Affairs and Culture	Patricia Ferguson	May–August 2007
Enterprise, Energy and Tourism	Iain Gray	May–August 2007
Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change	Des McNulty	May–August 2007
Schools and Skills	Ken Macintosh	May–August 2007
Children and Early Years	Pauline McNeill	May–August 2007
Public Health	Lewis Macdonald	May–August 2007
Communities and Sport	Johann Lamont	May–August 2007
Community Safety	Paul Martin	May–August 2007
Environment	Sarah Boyack	May–August 2007
Deputy Parliamentary Business	Michael McMahon	May–August 2007
Parliamentary Private Secretary to Jack McConnell	Richard Baker	May–August 2007

Alexander Shadow Cabinet^{[citation needed]}

Portfolio	Officeholder	Term
Leader	Wendy Alexander	2007–2008
Deputy Leader	Cathy Jamieson	2007–2008
Parliamentary Business
Finance and Sustainable Growth	Iain Gray	2007–2008
Health and Wellbeing	Margaret Curran	2007–2008
Public Services and Local Government	Andy Kerr	2007–2008
Justice	Pauline McNeil	2007–2008
Education and Lifelong Learning	Rhona Brankin	2007–2008
Rural Affairs and Environment	Sarah Boyack	2007–2008
Junior Opposition posts
Europe and Culture	Patricia Ferguson	2007–2008
Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change	Des McNulty	2007–2008
Schools and Skills	Ken Macintosh	2007–2008
Public Health	Lewis Macdonald	2007–2008
Communities and Sport	Johann Lamont	2007–2008
Community Safety	Paul Martin	2007–2008

Gray Shadow Cabinet^[5][6]

Portfolio	Officeholder	Term
Leader	Iain Gray	2008–2011
Deputy Leader	Johann Lamont	2008–2011
Parliamentary Business Manager	Michael McMahon	2008–2011
Chief Whip	David Stewart	2008–2011
Europe, External Affairs and Culture	Pauline McNeill	2008–2011
Finance and Sustainable Growth	Andy Kerr	2008–2011
Economy and Skills	John Park	2008–2009
Education and Lifelong Learning	Rhona Brankin	2008–2009
	Des McNulty	2009–2011
Health and Wellbeing	Cathy Jamieson	2008–2009
	Jackie Baillie	2009–2011
Justice	Richard Baker	2008–2011
Rural Affairs and Environment	Sarah Boyack	2008–2011
Minister without Portfolio	Margaret Curran	2008–2010
	John Park	2010–2011
Local Government	Michael McMahon	2009–2011

Lamont Shadow Cabinet^[7][8]

Portfolio	Officeholder	Term
Leader	Johann Lamont	2011–2014
Deputy Leader	Anas Sarwar	2011–2014
Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth	Ken Macintosh	2011–2013
	Iain Gray	2013–2014
Education and Lifelong Learning	Hugh Henry	2011–2013
	Kezia Dugdale	2013–2014
Health and Wellbeing	Jackie Baillie	2011–2013
	Neil Findlay	2013–2014
Culture, External Affairs and the Commonwealth Games	Patricia Ferguson	2011–2014
Justice	Graeme Pearson	2011–2013
	Lewis Macdonald	2013–2014
Infrastructure and Capital Investment	Richard Baker	2011–2013
	James Kelly	2013–2014
Local Government and Planning	Sarah Boyack	2011–2014
Rural Affairs and Environment	Claire Baker	2011–2014
Constitution	Drew Smith	2013–2014
Social Justice, Equalities and Welfare	Jackie Baillie	2013–2014
Parliamentary Business Manager	Paul Martin	2011–2014
Chief Whip	James Kelly	2011–2013
	Lewis Macdonald	2013–2014
Also attending Shadow Cabinet meetings
Portfolio	Officeholder	Term
Youth Employment	Kezia Dugdale	2011–2013
	Jenny Marra	2013–2014
Deputy Finance	Jenny Marra	2013–2014
Parliamentary Private Secretary to Johann Lamont	Siobhan McMahon	2011–2014

Murphy Shadow Cabinet^[9]

Portfolio	Officeholder	Term
Leader	Jim Murphy	2014–2015
Deputy Leader	Kezia Dugdale	2014–2015
Finance, Constitution and Economy	Jackie Baillie	2014–2015
Infrastructure, Investment and Cities	Mary Fee	2014–2015
Fair Work, Skills and Training	Neil Findlay	2014–2015
Education and Lifelong Learning	Iain Gray	2014–2015
Health, Wellbeing and Sport	Jenny Marra	2014–2015
Social Justice, Communities and Pensioners' Rights	Ken Macintosh	2014–2015
Justice	Hugh Henry	2014–2015
Rural Affairs, Food and Environment	Sarah Boyack	2014–2015
Culture, Europe and External Affairs	Claire Baker	2014–2015
Enterprise	Graeme Pearson	2014–2015
Chief Whip	Neil Bibby	2014–2015
Parliamentary Business Manager	James Kelly	2014–2015

First Dugdale Shadow Cabinet^[10]

Portfolio	Officeholder	Term
Leader	Kezia Dugdale	2015–2016
Deputy Leader	Alex Rowley	2015–2016
Equality	Jenny Marra	2015–2016
Opportunity	Iain Gray	2015–2016
Justice	Graeme Pearson	2015–2016
Public Services and Wealth Creation	Jackie Baillie	2015–2016
Community	Ken Macintosh	2015–2016
Environmental Justice	Sarah Boyack	2015–2016
Democracy	Claire Baker	2015–2016
Reform	Mary Fee	2015–2016
Parliamentary Business Manager	James Kelly	2015–2016
Chief Whip	Neil Bibby	2015–2016

Second Dugdale Shadow Cabinet^{[11][n 2]}

Portfolio	Officeholder	Term
Leader	Kezia Dugdale	2016–2017
Deputy Leader	Alex Rowley	2016–2017
Economy, Jobs and Fair Work	Jackie Baillie	2016–2017
Finance	Kezia Dugdale	2016–2017
Community, Social Security and Equalities	Alex Rowley	2016–2017
Education, Skills and Science	Iain Gray	2016–2017
Justice	Claire Baker	2016–2017
Health and Sport	Anas Sarwar	2016–2017
Culture, Sport, Tourism and External Affairs	Lewis Macdonald	2016–2017
Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform	Claudia Beamish	2016–2017
Rural Economy and Connectivity	Rhoda Grant	2016–2017
Parliamentary Business Manager	James Kelly	2016–2017

Leonard Shadow Cabinet^{[12][13][14][15]}

Portfolio	Officeholder	Term
Leader	Richard Leonard	2017–2021
Deputy Leader	Lesley Laird	2017–2019
	Jackie Baillie	2020–2021
Economy, Jobs and Fair Work	Jackie Baillie	2017–2018
	Richard Leonard	2018–2021
Finance	James Kelly	2017–2019
	Rhoda Grant	2019–2020
	Jackie Baillie	2020–2021
Justice	Daniel Johnson	2017–2019
	James Kelly	2019–2020
	Rhoda Grant	2020–2021
Constitution	Neil Findlay	2017–2019
	Alex Rowley	2019–2020
	Anas Sarwar	2020–2021
Education, Skills and Science	Iain Gray	2017–2021
Health and Sport	Anas Sarwar	2017–2018
	Monica Lennon	2018–2021
Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform	Claudia Beamish	2017–2021
Poverty	Elaine Smith	2017–2019
	David Stewart	2019–2020
	Rhoda Grant	2020
	Elaine Smith	2020–2021
Culture, Tourism and External Affairs	Claire Baker	2017–2021
Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity	Colin Smyth	2017–2021
Communities and Equalities	Monica Lennon	2017–2018
	Alex Rowley	2018–2019
	Pauline McNeill	2019–2021
Local Government	Sarah Boyack	2019–2021
Campaigns and Party Engagement	Neil Findlay	2017–2019
	Joe Cullinane[n 3]	2019–2021
Deputy Economy	Alex Rowley	2020–2021
Parliamentary Business Manager	Rhoda Grant	2017–2018
	Neil Findlay	2018–2019
	Elaine Smith	2019–2021

Sarwar Campaign Cabinet - 2021 Scottish Election^[16]

Portfolio	Officeholder	Term
Leader	Anas Sarwar	2021–present
Deputy Leader	Jackie Baillie	2021–present
Health, Social Care and Equalities
Economy, Jobs and Fair Work	Monica Lennon	2021–present
Finance	Daniel Johnson	2021–present
Education and Skills	Michael Marra	2021–present
Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform	Sarah Boyack	2021–present
Justice	Neil Bibby	2021–present
Communities, Housing and Local Government	Pauline McNeill	2021–present
Constitution, Europe and External Affairs	Colin Smyth	2021–present
Social Security	Pam Duncan-Glancy	2021–present
Culture	Claire Baker	2021–present
Rural Economy and Tourism	Rhoda Grant	2021–present
Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity	Alex Rowley	2021–present
Parliamentary Business Manager	James Kelly	2021–present
Community Safety and Drugs Policy
Also attending Shadow Cabinet
Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland	Ian Murray	2021–present
Chair of the Scottish Parliamentary Labour Party	Mark Griffin	2021–present
Business, Fair Work and Skills

Scottish Greens Spokespersons

Harvie–Slater Spokespersons^[17]

Portfolio	Officeholder	Term
Co-Leader	Patrick Harvie	2008–present
Finance and Constitutional Affairs Spokesperson[18]		2024-present
Co-Leader	Lorna Slater	2019–present[19]
Economic Recovery and Green Industrial Strategy Spokesperson[20]		2024-present
Health and Social Care Spokesperson	Gillian Mackay	2021–present
Education, Culture and External Affairs Spokesperson	Ross Greer	2021–present
Communities, Land Reform, Housing and Rural Affairs Spokesperson	Ariane Burgess	2021–present
Environment, Climate, Transport and Environment Spokesperson	Mark Ruskell	2021–present
Justice, Equality and Human Rights	Maggie Chapman[21]	2021–present

Liberal Democrat Spokespersons

Cole-Hamilton Spokespersons^[22]

Portfolio	Officeholder	Term
Leader	Alex Cole-Hamilton	2021–present
Health and Social Care, Drugs Emergency, Constitution and External Affairs Spokesperson
Deputy Leader	Wendy Chamberlain [n 4]	2021–present
Rural Affairs & Connectivity Spokesperson	Beatrice Wishart	2021–present
Justice and the Climate Emergency Spokesperson	Liam McArthur	2021–present
Education, the Economy & Communities Spokesperson	Willie Rennie	2021–present
Human Rights & Older People Spokesperson	Aisha Mir [n 5]	2021–present
Veterans, Science, Innovation & Emerging Tech Spokesperson	Bruce Wilson [n 5]	2021–present
Social Security Spokesperson	Caron Lindsay [n 5]	2021-present
Agriculture, Remote & Rural Communities Spokesperson	Claire McLaren [n 6][23]	2022–present
Young People Spokesperson	Jack Norquoy [n 5]	2021–present
Transport Spokesperson	Jill Reilly [n 5]	2021–present
Finance Spokesperson	John Ferry [n 5]	2021–present
Business, Trade & Investment Spokesperson	Molly Nolan [n 7]	2021–present
Housing & Homelessness Spokesperson	Paul McGarry [n 5]	2021–present
Local Government Spokesperson	Peter Barrett [n 6]	2021–present
Net Zero Spokesperson	Sanne Dijkstra-Downie [n 5]	2021–present
Mental Health Spokesperson	Sally Pattle [n 8]	2022-present
Culture and Sport Spokesperson	Neil Alexander [n 5]	2023-present
Transport Spokesperson	Daniel O'Malley [n 5]	2023-present

See also

• Leader of the Opposition (Scotland), for the informal role

Notes

1. Formed after the Scottish Conservatives came second at the 2016 Scottish Parliament election
2. Formed after Scottish Labour came third at the 2016 Scottish Parliament election
3. Leader of North Ayrshire Council, not a Member of the Scottish Parliament
4. Member of Parliament
5. Not a Member of the Scottish Parliament
6. Councillor on Perth and Kinross Council, not a Member of the Scottish Parliament
7. Councillor on Highland Council, not a Member of the Scottish Parliament
8. Councillor on West Lothian Council, not a Member of the Scottish Parliament