Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is a position with the UK Opposition's Shadow Cabinet that deals with issues surrounding the environment and food and rural affairs; if the opposition party is elected to government, the designated person is a likely choice to become the new secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs.

The position existed as Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment until 1997, when it was renamed Environment, Transport and the Regions to match the Government's reorganisation. It changed to its current name in 2001 for the same reason. Under Michael Howard, the arrangement was slightly different. There was a shadow environment secretary outside the Shadow Cabinet and (together with the shadow transport secretary) under the direction of the shadow secretary of state for environment and transport.

Shadow secretaries of state

Shadow Minister of Public Buildings and Works
Name			Took office	Left office	Political party	Shadow Cabinet
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Tony Greenwood	File:Anthony Greenwood.jpg	15 July 1955	16 November 1959	Labour	Template:Party shading/Labour Party (UK)| Attlee
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |						Template:Party shading/Labour rowspan="4"| Gaitskell
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Barbara Castle	File:Barbara Castle, 1965 (cropped).jpg	16 November 1959	28 November 1960
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Unknown		28 November 1960	30 November 1961
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Dick Mitchison	File:3x4.svg	30 November 1961	22 February 1963
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |						Template:Party shading/Labour| Brown
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Charles Pannell		22 February 1963	16 October 1964		Template:Party shading/Labour| Wilson
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Geoffrey Rippon	File:Geoffrey Rippon (1970).jpg	16 October 1964	29 October 1964	Conservative	rowspan="2" Template:Party shading/Conservative (UK) | Douglas-Home
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	James Ramsden	File:3x4.svg	29 October 1964	6 October 1965
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Robin Chichester-Clark		6 October 1965	19 June 1970	Ulster Unionist	Template:Party shading/Conservative (UK) | Heath
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	John Silkin	File:John Silkin.png	19 June 1970	22 July 1970	Labour	rowspan="2" Template:Party shading/Labour| Wilson II
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Anthony Crosland	File:Charles-Anthony-Raven-Crosland (3x4).jpg	22 July 1970	15 October 1970
Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment
Name			Took office	Left office	Political party	Shadow Cabinet
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Anthony Crosland	File:Charles-Anthony-Raven-Crosland (3x4).jpg	15 October 1970	5 March 1974	Labour	Template:Party shading/Labour| Wilson II
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Geoffrey Rippon	File:Geoffrey Rippon (1970).jpg	5 March 1974	11 March 1974	Conservative	rowspan="3" Template:Party shading/Conservative (UK) | Heath II
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Margaret Thatcher	File:Margaret Thatcher in September 1975 (cropped).jpg	11 March 1974	7 November 1974
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Paul Channon		7 November 1974	18 February 1975
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Timothy Raison		18 February 1975	19 November 1976		rowspan="2" Template:Party shading/Conservative (UK) | Thatcher
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Michael Heseltine	File:Lord Heseltine, Deputy Prime Minister, UK (1995-97) (10559130986) (cropped).jpg	19 November 1976	4 May 1979
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Peter Shore		4 May 1979	14 July 1979	Labour	rowspan="2" Template:Party shading/Labour| Callaghan
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Roy Hattersley	File:Roy Hattersley 2012 cropped 2.jpg	14 July 1979	8 December 1980
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Gerald Kaufman	File:Kaufman.JPG	8 December 1980	31 October 1983		Template:Party shading/Labour | Foot
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Jack Cunningham	File:3x4.svg	31 October 1983	2 November 1989		rowspan=2 Template:Party shading/Labour | Kinnock
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Bryan Gould	File:Bryan Gould in 1992 (cropped).jpg	2 November 1989	18 July 1992
rowspan=2 style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Chris Smith	File:Official portrait of Lord Smith of Finsbury, 2020.jpg	18 July 1992	20 October 1994		Template:Party shading/Labour |Smith
Template:Party shading/Labour |Beckett
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Frank Dobson	File:Frank Dobson, Secretary of State for Health (cropped).jpg	20 October 1994	2 May 1997		Template:Party shading/Labour |Blair
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	John Gummer	File:John Gummer 2006-03-01 (cropped).jpg	2 May 1997	11 June 1997	Conservative	Template:Party shading/Conservative (UK) | Major
Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Transport and the Regions
Name			Took office	Left office	Political party	Shadow Cabinet
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Norman Fowler	File:Official portrait of Lord Fowler crop 2.jpg	11 June 1997	1 June 1998	Conservative	rowspan=4 Template:Party shading/Conservative (UK) | Hague
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Gillian Shepherd	File:Gillian Shephard official portrait (cropped).jpg	1 June 1998	14 June 1999
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	John Redwood	File:Official portrait of Rt Hon John Redwood MP crop 2.jpg	14 June 1999	2 February 2000
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Archie Norman	File:Archie Norman.jpg	2 February 2000	18 September 2001
Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Name			Took office	Left office	Political party	Shadow Cabinet
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Peter Ainsworth		18 September 2001	23 July 2002	Conservative	rowspan="2" Template:Party shading/Conservative (UK) | Duncan Smith
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	David Lidington	File:Official portrait of Mr David Lidington crop 2.jpg	23 July 2002	10 November 2003
Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment
Name			Took office	Left office	Political party	Shadow Cabinet
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Caroline Spelman	File:Official portrait of Dame Caroline Spelman crop 2.jpg	10 November 2003	15 March 2004	Conservative	rowspan=2 Template:Party shading/Conservative (UK) | Howard
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Richard Ottaway	File:Richard Ottaway MP.jpg	15 March 2004	10 May 2005
Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Name			Took office	Left office	Political party	Shadow Cabinet
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Oliver Letwin	File:Oliver Letwin Official.jpg	10 May 2005	6 December 2005	Conservative	Template:Party shading/Conservative (UK) | Howard
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Peter Ainsworth		6 December 2005	19 January 2009		rowspan=2 Template:Party shading/Conservative (UK) | Cameron
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Nick Herbert	File:Nick Herbert - minister for policing and criminal justice.jpg	19 January 2009	11 May 2010
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Hilary Benn	File:Official portrait of Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP crop 2.jpg	11 May 2010	8 October 2010	Labour	Template:Party shading/Labour |Harman
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Mary Creagh	File:Official portrait of Mary Creagh crop 2.jpg	8 October 2010	7 October 2013		rowspan=2 Template:Party shading/Labour | Miliband
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Maria Eagle	File:Official portrait of Maria Eagle MP crop 2.jpg	7 October 2013	14 September 2015
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |						Template:Party shading/Labour | Harman II
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Kerry McCarthy	File:Official portrait of Kerry McCarthy.jpg	14 September 2015	26 June 2016		rowspan="4" Template:Party shading/Labour |Corbyn
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Rachael Maskell	File:Official portrait of Rachael Maskell MP crop 2.jpg	27 June 2016	1 February 2017
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Sue Hayman	File:Sue Hayman MP - official portrait 2017 (3-to-4 crop).jpg	9 February 2017	12 December 2019
rowspan="2" style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Luke Pollard REDIRECT Template:BreakOn leave: 30 August 2021 – 5 October 2021 REDIRECT Template:BreakActing Shadow Secretary: Daniel Zeichner	File:Official portrait of Luke Pollard MP crop 2.jpg	7 January 2020	29 November 2021
rowspan="3" Template:Party shading/Labour |Starmer
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Jim McMahon	File:Official portrait of Jim McMahon crop 2.jpg	29 November 2021	4 September 2023
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Steve Reed	File:Official portrait of Mr Steve Reed crop 2.jpg	4 September 2023	5 July 2024
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Steve Barclay	File:Steve Barclay Official Cabinet Portrait, November 2023 (cropped).jpg	8 July 2024	5 November 2024	Conservative	Template:Party shading/Conservative (UK) | Sunak
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Victoria Atkins	File:Official portrait of Victoria Atkins MP crop 2, 2024.jpg	5 November 2024	Incumbent		Template:Party shading/Conservative (UK) |Badenoch

References

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