| Post: | Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland |
| Incumbent: | Alex Burghart |
| Incumbentsince: | 8 July 2024 |
| Appointer: | Leader of the Opposition |
| Inaugural: | 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.
| Name | Entered office | Left office | Length of Term | Political party | Shadow Cabinet | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Merlyn Rees | 24 March 1972 | 4 March 1974 | Labour | Harold Wilson | ||||
| Francis Pym | 4 March 1974 | 29 October 1974 | Conservative | Edward Heath | ||||
| Ian Gilmour | 29 October 1974 | 18 February 1975 | ||||||
| Airey Neave | 18 February 1975 | 30 March 1979 | ||||||
| Edward Heath | ||||||||
| Margaret Thatcher | ||||||||
| Roy Mason | 4 May 1979 | 14 July 1979 | Labour | James Callaghan | ||||
| Brynmor John | 14 July 1979 | 8 December 1980 | ||||||
| Don Concannon | 8 December 1980 | 31 October 1983 | Michael Foot | |||||
| Peter Archer | 31 October 1983 | 13 July 1987 | Neil Kinnock | |||||
| Kevin McNamara | 13 July 1987 | 20 October 1994 | ||||||
| John Smith | ||||||||
| Margaret Beckett | ||||||||
| Mo Mowlam | 20 October 1994 | 2 May 1997 | Tony Blair | |||||
| Andrew Mackay | 23 June 1997 | 14 September 2001 | Conservative | William Hague | ||||
| Quentin Davies | 14 September 2001 | 11 November 2003 | Iain Duncan Smith | |||||
| David Lidington | 11 November 2003 | 2 July 2007 | Michael Howard | |||||
| David Cameron | ||||||||
| Owen Paterson | 2 July 2007 | 11 May 2010 | ||||||
| Shaun Woodward | 11 May 2010 | 7 October 2011 | Labour | Harriet Harman | ||||
| Ed Miliband | ||||||||
| Vernon Coaker | 7 October 2011 | 7 October 2013 | ||||||
| Ivan Lewis | 7 October 2013 | 13 September 2015 | ||||||
| Ed Miliband | ||||||||
| Harriet Harman | ||||||||
| Vernon Coaker | 13 September 2015 | 26 June 2016 | Jeremy Corbyn | |||||
| Dave Anderson | 26 June 2016 | 14 June 2017 | ||||||
| Owen Smith | 14 June 2017 | 23 March 2018 | ||||||
| Tony Lloyd | 23 March 2018 | 6 April 2020 | ||||||
| Louise Haigh | 6 April 2020 | 29 November 2021 | Sir Keir Starmer | |||||
| Peter Kyle | 29 November 2021 | 4 September 2023 | ||||||
| Hilary Benn | 4 September 2023 | 5 July 2024 | ||||||
| Alex Burghart[1] | 8 July 2024 | Incumbent | Labour | Rishi Sunak | ||||