Shadow Secretary of State for Defence

The shadow secretary of state for defence is a member of the UK Shadow Cabinet responsible for the scrutiny of the secretary of state for defence and the department, the Ministry of Defence. The post is currently held by James Cartlidge.

Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
Incumbent James Cartlidge since 8 July 2024
Member of	Opposition Shadow Cabinet
Appointer	Leader of the Opposition
Inaugural holder	Richard Stokes

List of shadow secretaries for defence

Shadow ministers of defence
Name			Entered office	Left office	Political party	Shadow Cabinet
	Richard Stokes		15 July 1955	30 November 1956[1]	Labour	Clement Attlee
						Gaitskell
	George Brown		30 November 1956	30 November 1961	Labour
	Patrick Gordon Walker		30 November 1961	22 February 1963	Labour
						Brown
	Denis Healey		22 February 1963	1 April 1964	Labour	Wilson I
Shadow secretaries of state for defence
Name			Entered office	Left office	Political party	Shadow Cabinet
	Denis Healey		1 April 1964	16 October 1964	Labour	Wilson I
	Peter Thorneycroft		16 October 1964	16 February 1965[2]	Conservative	Douglas-Home
	Christopher Soames		16 February 1965	4 August 1965[3]	Conservative
	Enoch Powell		4 August 1965	21 April 1968	Conservative	Heath I
	Reginald Maudling		21 April 1968	14 November 1968[4]	Conservative
	Geoffrey Rippon		14 November 1968	19 June 1970	Conservative
	Denis Healey		19 June 1970	24 July 1970	Labour	Wilson II
	George Thomson		24 July 1970	10 April 1972[5][6]	Labour
	Roy Hattersley		11 April 1972	7 December 1972[7]	Labour
	Fred Peart		7 December 1972	4 March 1974	Labour
	Ian Gilmour		4 March 1974	19 June 1974	Conservative	Heath II
	Peter Walker		19 June 1974	18 February 1975	Conservative
	George Younger		18 February 1975	15 January 1976	Conservative	Thatcher
	Ian Gilmour		15 January 1976	4 May 1979	Conservative
	Fred Mulley		4 May 1979	14 June 1979	Labour	Callaghan
	William Rodgers		14 June 1979	8 December 1980	Labour
	Brynmor John		8 December 1980	24 November 1981	Labour	Foot
	John Silkin		24 November 1981	26 October 1984	Labour
						Kinnock
	Denzil Davies		26 October 1984	14 June 1988	Labour
	Martin O'Neill		14 June 1988	18 July 1992	Labour
	David Clark		18 July 1992	2 May 1997	Labour	Smith
						Beckett
						Blair
	John Major		2 May 1997	11 June 1997	Conservative	Major
	George Young		11 June 1997	1 June 1998	Conservative	Hague
	John Maples		1 June 1998	15 June 1999	Conservative
	Iain Duncan Smith		15 June 1999	18 September 2001	Conservative
	Bernard Jenkin		18 September 2001	6 November 2003	Conservative	Duncan Smith
	Nicholas Soames		6 November 2003	10 May 2005	Conservative	Howard
	Michael Ancram[8]		10 May 2005	6 December 2005	Conservative
	Liam Fox[9]		7 December 2005	6 May 2010	Conservative	Cameron
	Bob Ainsworth[10]		12 May 2010	8 October 2010	Labour	Harman I
	Jim Murphy[11]		8 October 2010	7 October 2013	Labour	Miliband
	Vernon Coaker[12]		7 October 2013	14 September 2015	Labour
						Harman II
	Maria Eagle[13]		14 September 2015	5 January 2016	Labour	Corbyn
	Emily Thornberry[14]		5 January 2016	27 June 2016	Labour
	Clive Lewis[15]		27 June 2016	6 October 2016	Labour
	Nia Griffith[16]		6 October 2016	6 April 2020	Labour
	John Healey[17]		6 April 2020	5 July 2024	Labour	Starmer
	James Cartlidge		8 July 2024	Incumbent	Conservative	Sunak
						Badenoch

See also

• Secretary of State for Defence
• Ministry of Defence
• UK Shadow Cabinet