Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective

Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities

British opposition frontbench position From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities
Remove ads

The shadow minister for women and equalities (previously shadow minister for women, shadow minister for women and equality, shadow secretary of state for women and equalities) is a position in the United Kingdom's Official Opposition, and sits in the Shadow Cabinet. The shadow minister is responsible for holding the minister for women and equalities, responsible for the Government Equalities Office, to account and is responsible for Opposition policy on women's and equality issues.

Quick Facts Appointer, Formation ...
Remove ads

The post was upgraded to the Shadow Cabinet rank of shadow secretary of state following the snap general election of 2017, with Jeremy Corbyn indicating that if Labour win office at the next election, Women and Equalities will be upgraded to the full status of a government department. Keir Starmer continued this pledge but ultimately continued with a Minister for Women and Equalities when he entered government in July 2024. Previously, the post was often held together with a Shadow Cabinet post, but sometimes as a Shadow Cabinet post in its own right.

The position, since its creation in 1983, has always been held by a female member of parliament. The position has been held by Mims Davies of the Conservative Party since 8 July 2024.

Remove ads

Shadow ministers

More information Took office, Left office ...
Remove ads

See also

Notes

  1. [n 1]
    Blair conducted a minor reshuffle of his shadow cabinet on 26 July 1996. As Anderson was in post and Shadow Minister for Women by 21 August 1996[5] (and Jowell as a Shadow Health minister by 15 September),[6] the change likely occurred at that 26 July reshuffle.
  2. [n 2]
    No sources currently note any individual as holding this role for the Conservatives when Labour entered Government at the 1997 election and created the position of Minister for Women, but no source proves there was not one. Before the Conservatives' defeat, Gillian Shephard, John Major's Education Secretary, spoke on women's issues. She largely delegated the responsibility to a junior minister, Cheryl Gillan.[7] The only parliamentary debate that obviously fell under the portfolio of the Minister for Women during the term of Harriet Harman (May 1997 to July 1998) occurred on 27 February 1998. It was a set-piece debate, meaning the order of speakers was opening minister, opening shadow minister, backbenchers, closing shadow minister, closing minister. Harman opened, followed by Shepard. The closing speeches were given by Gillan for the Conservatives and Joan Ruddock, Harman's deputy, for the Government.[8] A similar debate was held on 8 March 1999. The Minister for Women was a peer, Baroness Jay of Paddington, so her deputy, Tessa Jowell, opened the debate for the Government; Theresa May opened for the Conservatives. Virginia Bottomley closed for the Opposition, and Margaret Hodge did so for Labour.[9]

References

Loading content...
Loading related searches...

Wikiwand - on

Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.

Remove ads
OSZAR »