Shadow Cabinet of Tony Blair

Shadow Cabinet of the United Kingdom from 1994 to 1997
  Labour Party
Status in legislatureOfficial Opposition
271 / 651 (42%)
HistoryElection(s)1994 Labour Party leadership electionOutgoing election1997 United Kingdom general electionLegislature term(s)51st UK ParliamentPredecessorShadow Cabinet of John SmithSuccessorShadow Cabinet of John Major

Tony Blair was Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition from his election as Leader on 21 July 1994 until he became Prime Minister on 2 May 1997. Blair became leader upon the death of John Smith. Under Blair, the Labour Party was rebranded as New Labour to distance itself from previous Labour politics and the traditional idea of socialism. Despite opposition from Labour's left-wing, he abolished Clause IV, the party's formal commitment to the nationalisation of the economy, weakened trade union influence in the party, and committed to the free market and the European Union.

Blair had two Shadow Cabinets during his tenure as opposition leader. On 20 October 1994, following the 1994 Shadow Cabinet elections, Blair announced his first Shadow Cabinet. Blair made a number of significant changes to the Shadow Cabinet on 19 October 1995, following the 1995 Shadow Cabinet elections. Small changes were made to the Shadow Cabinet at the 1996 Shadow Cabinet elections.

Blair inherited the Labour leadership at a time when the party was ascendant over the Conservatives in the opinion polls, since the Conservative government's reputation in monetary policy was left in tatters by the Black Wednesday economic disaster of September 1992. Blair's election as leader saw Labour support surge higher still in spite of the continuing economic recovery and fall in unemployment that the Conservative government led by John Major had overseen since the end of the 1990–92 recession.

At the 1996 Labour Party conference, Blair stated that his three top priorities on coming to office were "education, education, and education". In 1996, the manifesto New Labour, New Life for Britain was published, which set out the party's new "Third Way" centrist approach to policy, and was presented as the brand of a newly reformed party that had altered Clause IV and endorsed market economics. In May 1995, Labour had achieved considerable success in the local and European elections, and had won four by-elections. For Blair, these achievements were a source of optimism, as they indicated that the Conservatives were in decline. Virtually every opinion poll since late-1992 put Labour ahead of the Conservatives with enough support to form an overall majority.

Aided by the unpopularity of John Major's Conservative government (itself deeply divided over the European Union), Blair led the Labour Party to victory in the 1997 general election (its largest landslide general election victory in history), ending eighteen years of Conservative Party rule, with the heaviest Conservative defeat since 1906. Blair became the prime minister of the United Kingdom on 2 May 1997.

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Shadow Cabinet list

Portfolio Shadow Minister Term
Leader of Her Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition
Leader of the Labour Party 		The Rt Hon. Tony Blair 1994–1997
Deputy Leader of Her Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition
Deputy Leader of the Labour Party 		The Rt Hon. John Prescott 1994–1997
Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords The Rt Hon. The Lord Richard PC 1994–1997
Labour Chief Whip in the House of Commons The Rt Hon. Derek Foster 1994–1995
Donald Dewar 1995–1997
Labour Chief Whip in the House of Lords The Lord Graham of Edmonton 1994–1997
Shadow Lord Chancellor The Lord Irvine of Lairg 1994–1997
Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown 1994–1997
Shadow Foreign Secretary Robin Cook 1994–1997
Shadow Home Secretary Jack Straw 1994–1997
Shadow Secretary of State for Defence David Clark 1994–1997
Shadow Secretary of State for Employment Harriet Harman 1994–1995
Shadow Secretary of State for Education David Blunkett 1994–1995
Shadow Secretary of State for Education and Employment 1995–1997
Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment Frank Dobson 1994–1997
Shadow Secretary of State for Health The Rt Hon. Margaret Beckett 1994–1995
Harriet Harman 1995–1996
Chris Smith 1996–1997
Shadow Leader of the House of Commons Ann Taylor 1994–1997
Shadow Minister for the Citizen's Charter 1994–1995
The Rt Hon. Derek Foster 1995–1997
Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 1995–1997
Shadow Secretary of State for Social Security Donald Dewar 1994–1995
Chris Smith 1995–1996
Harriet Harman 1996–1997
Shadow Secretary of State for National Heritage
Shadow Minister with special responsibility for the Information Superhighway 		Chris Smith 1994–1995
The Rt Hon. Jack Cunningham 1995–1997
Shadow Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 1994–1995
The Rt Hon. Margaret Beckett 1995–1997
Shadow Secretary of State for Transport Michael Meacher 1994–1995
Clare Short 1995–1996
Andrew Smith 1996–1997
Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland George Robertson 1994–1997
Shadow Secretary of State for Wales Ron Davies 1994–1997
Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Mo Mowlam 1994–1997
Shadow Minister for Overseas Development Joan Lestor 1994–1996
Clare Short 1996–1997
Shadow Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Gavin Strang 1994–1997
Shadow Minister for Employment Michael Meacher 1995–1996
Shadow Minister for Environmental Protection 1996–1997

Initial Shadow Cabinet

On 20 October 1994, following the 1994 Shadow Cabinet elections, Blair announced his first Shadow Cabinet.[1]

1995 reshuffle

Blair made a number of significant changes to the Shadow Cabinet on 19 October 1995, following the 1995 Shadow Cabinet elections.[2] Foster, who had been elected to the post, acceded to Blair's request that he step aside as Chief Whip; he was appointed Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Shadow Minister responsible for the Citizen's Charter, taking the latter from Taylor, who remained Shadow Leader of the House. Dewar was appointed Chief Whip under a new rule that made the job appointive and added on additional elective seat in the Shadow Cabinet. Chris Smith replaced Dewar at Social Security, and was replaced as Shadow National Heritage Secretary by Cunningham. Responsibility for the Information Superhighway was transferred from Shadow National Heritage Secretary to a junior Shadow Trade and Industry minister (Geoff Hoon). Cunningham was in turn replaced at the Trade and Industry brief by Beckett. Harman took over the Health portfolio Beckett had held. Blunkett added Harman's Employment portfolio to his own to reflect the created of the Department for Education and Employment.

Michael Meacher, while remaining in the Shadow Cabinet, became Blunkett's deputy as Shadow Minister for Employment, leaving the Transport brief to Clare Short, newly elected to the Shadow Cabinet. Another newcomer, Tom Clarke, was appointed to the new post of Shadow Minister for Disabled People's Rights.[3]

Changes

See also

  • 1994 Labour Party (UK) Shadow Cabinet election
  • 1995 Labour Party (UK) Shadow Cabinet election
  • 1996 Labour Party (UK) Shadow Cabinet election

References

  1. ^ Timms, Nicholas (21 October 1994). "Blair uses reshuffle to put own sta on Shadow Cabinet: Brown stays as shadow Chancellor—Cook takes foreign affairs—Straw is shadow Home Secretary—Beckett moves to health". The Independent. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  2. ^ Davies, Patricia Wynn; Donald Macintyre (20 October 1995). "Blair turns tables in front bench 'clearout'". The Independent. Retrieved 26 July 2011.
  3. ^ "New MPs promoted by Blair". The Independent. 22 October 1995. Retrieved 26 July 2011.
  4. ^ "Opposition Front Bench Spokespersons 1996/97". Weekly Information Bulletin. House of Commons Information Office. 26 October 1996. Retrieved 26 July 2011.
  5. ^ Rentoul, John (26 July 1996). "A rare national treasure in peril". The Independent.
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