Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
| Shadow Secretary of State for Defence | |
|---|---|
| Appointer | Leader of the Opposition |
| Inaugural holder | Denis Healey |
| Formation | 1 April 1964 |
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 John Healey.
Shadow Secretaries of State
| Name | Entered office | Left office | Political party | Shadow Cabinet | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Denis Healey | 
|
1 April 1964 | 16 October 1964 | Labour | Harold Wilson |
| style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Peter Thorneycroft | 
|
16 October 1964 | 7 July 1965 | Conservative | Alec Douglas-Home |
| style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Enoch Powell | 
|
7 July 1965 | 21 April 1968 | Conservative | Ted Heath |
| style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Reginald Maudling | File:Reginald Maudling.jpg | 21 April 1968 | 1969 | Conservative | |
| style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Geoffrey Rippon | .jpg)
|
1969 | 8 July 1970 | Conservative | |
| style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | | George Thomson | 
|
8 July 1970 | 10 April 1972 | Labour | Harold Wilson |
| style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Fred Peart |
|
10 April 1972 | 4 March 1974 | Labour | |
| style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Ian Gilmour |
|
4 March 1974 | 29 October 1974 | Conservative | Ted Heath |
| style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Peter Walker |
|
29 October 1974 | 18 February 1975 | Conservative | |
| style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | George Younger | 
|
18 February 1975 | 15 January 1976 | Conservative | Margaret Thatcher |
| style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Ian Gilmour |
|
15 January 1976 | 4 May 1979 | Conservative | |
| style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Fred Mulley | 
|
4 May 1979 | 14 June 1979 | Labour | Jim Callaghan |
| style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | | William Rodgers |
|
14 June 1979 | 8 December 1980 | Labour | |
| style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Brynmor John |
|
8 December 1980 | 24 November 1981 | Labour | Michael Foot |
| style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | | John Silkin |
|
24 November 1981 | 26 October 1984 | Labour | |
| style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Neil Kinnock | |||||
| style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Denzil Davies |
|
26 October 1984 | 14 June 1988 | Labour | |
| style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Martin O'Neill | 
|
14 June 1988 | 18 July 1992 | Labour | |
| rowspan="3" style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | | David Clark | 
|
18 July 1992 | 2 May 1997 | Labour | John Smith |
| Margaret Beckett | ||||||
| Tony Blair | ||||||
| style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | John Major | 
|
2 May 1997 | 11 June 1997 | Conservative | John Major |
| style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | George Young | 
|
11 June 1997 | 1 June 1998 | Conservative | William Hague |
| style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | John Maples | 1 June 1998 | 15 June 1999 | Conservative | ||
| style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Iain Duncan Smith | 
|
15 June 1999 | 18 September 2001 | Conservative | |
| style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Bernard Jenkin | 
|
18 September 2001 | 6 November 2003 | Conservative | Iain Duncan Smith |
| style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Nicholas Soames | 
|
6 November 2003 | 10 May 2005 | Conservative | Michael Howard |
| style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Michael Ancram | _cropped.jpg)
|
10 May 2005 | 6 December 2005 | Conservative | |
| style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Liam Fox | 
|
6 December 2005 | 11 May 2010 | Conservative | David Cameron |
| style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Bob Ainsworth | .jpg)
|
11 May 2010 | 8 October 2010 | Labour | Harriet Harman |
| style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Jim Murphy | 
|
8 October 2010 | 7 October 2013 | Labour | Ed Miliband |
| style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Vernon Coaker | 
|
7 October 2013 | 14 September 2015 | Labour | |
| style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Maria Eagle | 
|
14 September 2015 | 6 January 2016 | Labour | Jeremy Corbyn |
| style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Emily Thornberry | 
|
6 January 2016 | 27 June 2016 | Labour | |
| style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Clive Lewis | 
|
27 June 2016 | 6 October 2016 | Labour | |
| style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | | Nia Griffith | 
|
6 October 2016 | 6 April 2020 | Labour | |
| style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | | John Healey | 
|
6 April 2020 | Incumbent | Labour | Keir Starmer |
