Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs explained

Post:	Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Incumbent:	Steve Barclay
Incumbentsince:	8 July 2024
Appointer:	Leader of the Opposition
Website:	The Shadow Cabinet

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 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 Secretary of State for the Environment
Name			Took office	Left office	Political party	Shadow Cabinet
	Anthony Crosland		19 June 1970	5 March 1974	Labour	Wilson II
	Margaret Thatcher		5 March 1974	18 February 1975	Conservative	Heath II
	Timothy Raison		18 February 1975	19 November 1976		Thatcher
	Michael Heseltine		19 November 1976	4 May 1979
	Peter Shore		4 May 1979	14 July 1979		Callaghan
	Roy Hattersley		14 July 1979	8 December 1980
	Gerald Kaufman		8 December 1980	31 October 1983		Foot
	Jack Cunningham		31 October 1983	2 November 1989		Kinnock
	Bryan Gould		2 November 1989	18 July 1992
	Chris Smith		18 July 1992	20 October 1994		Smith
Beckett
	Frank Dobson		20 October 1994	2 May 1997		Blair
	John Gummer		2 May 1997	11 June 1997	Conservative	Major
Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Transport and the Regions
Name			Took office	Left office	Political party	Shadow Cabinet
	Norman Fowler		11 June 1997	1 June 1998	Conservative	Hague
	Gillian Shepherd^[1]		1 June 1998	14 June 1999
	John Redwood^[2]		14 June 1999	2 February 2000
	Archie Norman		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
	Peter Ainsworth		18 September 2001	23 July 2002	Conservative	Duncan Smith
	David Lidington		23 July 2002	10 November 2003
Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment
Name			Took office	Left office	Political party	Shadow Cabinet
	Caroline Spelman		10 November 2003	15 March 2004	Conservative	Howard
	Richard Ottaway		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
	Oliver Letwin		10 May 2005	6 December 2005	Conservative	Howard
	Peter Ainsworth		6 December 2005	19 January 2009		Cameron
	Nick Herbert		19 January 2009	11 May 2010
	Hilary Benn		11 May 2010	8 October 2010	Labour	Harman I
	Mary Creagh		8 October 2010	7 October 2013		Miliband
	Maria Eagle		7 October 2013	14 September 2015
						Harman II
	Kerry McCarthy		14 September 2015	26 June 2016		Corbyn
	Rachael Maskell		27 June 2016	1 February 2017
	Sue Hayman		9 February 2017	12 December 2019
	Luke PollardOn Leave: 30 August 2021 - 5 October 2021 Acting Shadow Secretary: Daniel Zeichner		7 January 2020	29 November 2021
						Starmer
	Jim McMahon		29 November 2021	4 September 2023
	Steve Reed		4 September 2023	5 July 2024
	Steve Barclay		8 July 2024	Incumbent	Conservative	Sunak

Notes and References

1. Web site: Hague reshuffles shadow cabinet . BBC News . 1 June 1998 . 10 March 2013.
2. Web site: Lilley sacked in Hague reshuffle . The Guardian . 15 June 1999 . 10 March 2013.