Shadow Secretary of State for Education

The shadow secretary of state for education, also called the shadow education secretary, is an office in the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet responsible for Opposition policy on education and for holding the secretary of state for education, junior education ministers, and the Department for Education to account.

Shadow Secretary of State for Education
Incumbent Laura Trott since 4 November 2024
Appointer	Leader of the Opposition
Website	His Majesty's Official Opposition: The Shadow Cabinet

Departments shadowed

• Ministry of Education (1944–1964)
• Department of Education and Science (1964–1992)
• Department for Education (1992–1995, 2010–present)
• Department for Education and Employment (1995–2001)
• Department for Education and Skills (2001–2007)
• Department for Children, Schools and Families (2007–2010)

List of shadow secretaries of state

Shadow Minister of Education
Shadow Secretary			Took office	Left office	Political party	Shadow Cabinet
	Michael Stewart		15 July 1955	16 November 1959	Labour	Attlee
						Gaitskell
	Tony Greenwood		16 November 1959	14 October 1960	Labour
	Eirene White		14 October 1960	28 November 1960	Labour
	Fred Willey		28 November 1960	1 April 1964	Labour
						Wilson
Shadow Secretary of State for Education and Science
Shadow Secretary			Took office	Left office	Political party	Shadow Cabinet
	Fred Willey		1 April 1964	16 October 1964	Labour	Wilson
	Quintin Hogg		16 October 1964	16 February 1965[1]	Conservative	Douglas-Home
	Sir Edward Boyle		16 February 1965	15 October 1969[2]
						Heath
	Margaret Thatcher		21 October 1969[3]	20 June 1970
	Edward Short		20 June 1970	6 December 1972	Labour	Wilson II
	Roy Hattersley		6 December 1972[4]	5 March 1974
	William van Straubenzee		12 March 1974	12 June 1974	Conservative	Heath II
	Norman St John-Stevas		12 June 1974	6 November 1978
						Thatcher
	Mark Carlisle		6 November 1978	4 May 1979
	Gordon Oakes[n 1]		4 May 1979	14 July 1979	Labour	Callaghan
	Neil Kinnock		14 July 1979	2 October 1983
						Foot
	Giles Radice		2 October 1983	13 July 1987		Kinnock
	Jack Straw		13 July 1987	18 July 1992
Shadow Secretary of State for Education
Shadow Secretary			Took office	Left office	Political party	Shadow Cabinet
	Ann Taylor		18 July 1992	20 October 1994	Labour	Smith
						Beckett
	David Blunkett		20 October 1994	19 October 1995		Blair
Shadow Secretary of State for Education and Employment
Shadow Secretary			Took office	Left office	Political Party	Shadow Cabinet
	David Blunkett		19 October 1995	2 May 1997	Labour	Blair
	Gillian Shephard		2 May 1997	11 June 1997	Conservative	Major
	Stephen Dorrell		11 June 1997	15 June 1998		Hague
	David Willetts		1 June 1998	15 June 1999
	Theresa May		15 June 1999	18 September 2001
Shadow Secretary of State for Education and Skills
Shadow Secretary			Took office	Left office	Political party	Shadow Cabinet
	Damian Green		18 September 2001	11 November 2003	Conservative	Duncan Smith
	Tim Yeo		11 November 2003	14 July 2004		Howard
	Tim Collins[5]		14 July 2004	5 May 2005
	David Cameron[6]		10 May 2005	6 December 2005
	David Willetts[7]		8 December 2005	3 July 2007		Cameron
Shadow Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families
Shadow Secretary			Took office	Left office	Political party	Shadow Cabinet
	Michael Gove[8]		3 July 2007	6 May 2010	Conservative	Cameron
Shadow Secretary of State for Education
Shadow Secretary			Took office	Left office	Political party	Shadow Cabinet
	Ed Balls[9]		12 May 2010	8 October 2010	Labour	Harman
	Andy Burnham[10]		8 October 2010	7 October 2011		Miliband
	Stephen Twigg[11]		7 October 2011	7 October 2013
	Tristram Hunt[12]		7 October 2013	14 September 2015
						Harman II
	Lucy Powell[13]		14 September 2015	26 June 2016		Corbyn
	Pat Glass[14]		27 June 2016	29 June 2016
	Angela Rayner[15]		1 July 2016	5 April 2020
	Rebecca Long-Bailey[16]		6 April 2020	25 June 2020		Starmer
	Kate Green[17]		27 June 2020	29 November 2021
	Bridget Phillipson[18]		29 November 2021	5 July 2024
	Damian Hinds[19]		8 July 2024	4 November 2024	Conservative	Sunak
	Laura Trott[20]		4 November 2024	Incumbent		Badenoch

See also

• Official Opposition frontbench