Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government
Incumbent Andrew Gwynne since 14 June 2017
Shadow Cabinet
Appointer	Leader of the Opposition
Formation	11 June 1997
First holder	Norman Fowler
Website	Shadow Cabinet

Shadow Secretary of State for Communities, and Local Government is a position with the UK Opposition's Shadow Cabinet; if elected, the designated person is a likely choice to become the new Communities Secretary.

The position has existed in many iterations, first as Environment, Transport and the Regions in 1997 after the Government's reorganisation. The portfolio shifted among government departments for many years until resting on its current name in 2006.

Under Michael Howard, the arrangement was slightly different. There was a Shadow Secretary of State for Local and Devolved Government Affairs in Shadow Cabinet who supervised a Shadow Local Government Secretary and a Shadow Regions Secretary outside of it.

The current Shadow Communities Secretary, as of June 2017, is Andrew Gwynne. Following the 2018 British cabinet reshuffle, Theresa May added Housing in England to the portfolio. However, the Shadow Cabinet of Jeremy Corbyn, has a Shadow Communities Secretary, along with a separate Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, as Corbyn has indicated that if Labour form the next government, they will create a separate government department for housing.

Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Transport and the Regions (1997–2001)

Name			Took office	Left office	Political party	Leader
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Norman Fowler		11 June 1997	1 June 1998	Conservative	William Hague
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Gillian Shephard		1 June 1998	14 June 1999	Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	John Redwood		14 June 1999	2 February 2000	Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Archie Norman		2 February 2000	18 September 2001	Conservative

Shadow Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (2001–2002)

Name			Took office	Left office	Political party	Leader
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Theresa May		18 September 2001	6 June 2002	Conservative	Iain Duncan Smith

Shadow Secretary of State for Local Government and the Regions (2002)

Name			Took office	Left office	Political party	Leader
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Eric Pickles		6 June 2002	23 July 2002	Conservative	Iain Duncan Smith

Shadow Secretary of State for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (2002–2003)

Name			Took office	Left office	Political party	Leader
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	David Davis		23 July 2002	11 November 2003	Conservative	Iain Duncan Smith

Shadow Secretary of State for Local and Devolved Government Affairs (2003–2005)

Name			Took office	Left office	Political party	Leader
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	David Curry		11 November 2003	15 March 2004	Conservative	Michael Howard
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Caroline Spelman		15 March 2004	6 May 2005	Conservative

Shadow Secretary of State for Local Government					Shadow Secretary of State for the Regions					Political party	Shadow Cabinet
Name			Took office	Left office	Name			Took office	Left office
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Eric Pickles		11 November 2003	6 May 2005	style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Bernard Jenkin		11 November 2003	6 May 2005	Conservative	Michael Howard

Shadow Secretary of State for Local Government Affairs and Communities (2005)

Name			Took office	Left office	Political party	Leader
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Caroline Spelman		6 May 2005	5 December 2005	Conservative	Michael Howard

Shadow Secretary of State for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (2005–2006)

Name			Took office	Left office	Political party	Leader
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Caroline Spelman		5 December 2005	6 May 2006	Conservative	David Cameron

Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (2006–present)

Name			Took office	Left office	Political party	Leader
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Caroline Spelman		6 May 2006	2 July 2007	Conservative	David Cameron
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Eric Pickles		2 July 2007	19 January 2009	Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Caroline Spelman		19 January 2009	11 May 2010	Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	John Denham		11 May 2010	8 October 2010	Labour	Harriet Harman
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Caroline Flint		8 October 2010	7 October 2011	Labour	Ed Miliband
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Hilary Benn		7 October 2011	11 May 2015	Labour
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Emma Reynolds		11 May 2015	14 September 2015	Labour	Harriet Harman
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Jon Trickett		14 September 2015	27 June 2016	Labour	Jeremy Corbyn
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Grahame Morris		27 June 2016	7 October 2016	Labour
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Teresa Pearce		7 October 2016	2 April 2017	Labour
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Roberta Blackman-Woods		2 April 2017	14 June 2017	Labour
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Andrew Gwynne		14 June 2017	Incumbent	Labour