Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Incumbent Alex Burghart since 8 July 2024
Appointer	Leader of the Opposition
Inaugural holder	Merlyn Rees
Formation	24 March 1972
Website	The Shadow Cabinet

The shadow secretary of state for Northern Ireland is a member of the British Shadow Cabinet responsible for the scrutiny of the secretary of state for Northern Ireland and their department, the Northern Ireland Office. The post was held by Hilary Benn.

Until recently there had been a 'bi-partisan' attitude to Northern Ireland affairs in the House of Commons but the role is influenced by the relationship between the main Official Opposition and parties in the country. The Conservative Party, for example, generally supports the unionist cause and in 2008 re-formalised a (since ended) link with the Ulster Unionist Party and relied on the support of the Democratic Unionist Party until the 2019 United Kingdom General Election in the House of Commons, while Labour has traditionally supported Irish nationalism and is loosely allied to the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP). The Liberal Democrats are linked with the cross-community Alliance Party.

Shadow secretaries of state

Name			Entered office	Left office	Length of Term	Political party	Shadow Cabinet
	Merlyn Rees		24 March 1972	4 March 1974	1 year, 345 days	Labour	Harold Wilson
	Francis Pym		4 March 1974	29 October 1974	239 days	Conservative	Edward Heath
	Ian Gilmour		29 October 1974	18 February 1975	112 days
	Airey Neave		18 February 1975	30 March 1979	4 years, 40 days
							Edward Heath
							Margaret Thatcher
	Roy Mason		4 May 1979	14 July 1979	71 days	Labour	James Callaghan
	Brynmor John		14 July 1979	8 December 1980	1 year, 147 days
	Don Concannon		8 December 1980	31 October 1983	2 years, 327 days		Michael Foot
	Peter Archer		31 October 1983	13 July 1987	3 years, 255 days		Neil Kinnock
	Kevin McNamara		13 July 1987	20 October 1994	7 years, 99 days
							John Smith
							Margaret Beckett
	Mo Mowlam		20 October 1994	2 May 1997	2 years, 194 days		Tony Blair
	Andrew Mackay		23 June 1997	14 September 2001	4 years, 83 days	Conservative	William Hague
	Quentin Davies		14 September 2001	11 November 2003	2 years, 58 days		Iain Duncan Smith
	David Lidington		11 November 2003	2 July 2007	3 years, 233 days		Michael Howard
							David Cameron
	Owen Paterson		2 July 2007	11 May 2010	2 years, 313 days
	Shaun Woodward		11 May 2010	7 October 2011	1 year, 149 days	Labour	Harriet Harman
							Ed Miliband
	Vernon Coaker		7 October 2011	7 October 2013	2 years, 0 days
	Ivan Lewis		7 October 2013	13 September 2015	1 year, 341 days
							Ed Miliband
							Harriet Harman
	Vernon Coaker		13 September 2015	26 June 2016	287 days		Jeremy Corbyn
	Dave Anderson		26 June 2016	14 June 2017	353 days
	Owen Smith		14 June 2017	23 March 2018	282 days
	Tony Lloyd		23 March 2018	6 April 2020	2 years, 14 days
	Louise Haigh		6 April 2020	29 November 2021	1 year, 237 days		Sir Keir Starmer
	Peter Kyle		29 November 2021	4 September 2023	1 year, 279 days
	Hilary Benn		4 September 2023	5 July 2024	305 days
	Alex Burghart		8 July 2024	Incumbent	173 days	Conservative	Rishi Sunak

See also

• Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
• Northern Ireland Office
• UK Shadow Cabinet
• Liberal Democrat Frontbench Team
• Northern Ireland Affairs Committee
• Northern Ireland Grand Committee

External links

• Conservative Northern Ireland branch
• Conservative Northern Ireland news
• Conservative Northern Ireland Education Spokesman
• David Lidington MP
• Lembit Öpik MP