Shadow_Cabinet_of_Michael_Foot

Shadow Cabinet of Michael Foot

Shadow Cabinet of Michael Foot

Add article description

Michael Foot was Leader of the Opposition from 4 November 1980, following his victory in the 1980 leadership election, to 2 October 1983, when he was replaced by Neil Kinnock at the 1983 leadership election. The 1980 leadership contest was triggered by James Callaghan's loss at the 1979 general election, and the 1983 contest by Foot's own disastrous defeat in the 1983 general election.

Until 2011, the Labour MPs elected the bulk of the membership of the Shadow Cabinet. The leader was expected to assign portfolios to those elected, but was able to assign portfolios to MPs not elected to the Shadow Cabinet and to refuse to assign portfolios to elected members. For example, William Rodgers was not given a portfolio despite winning in the 1980 Shadow Cabinet elections. When he left the party months later to help create the Social Democratic Party, Tony Benn automatically joined the Shadow Cabinet. Foot also chose not to give the more radical Benn a portfolio. When Benn lost in the 1981 Shadow Cabinet elections, all the new members received portfolios (Shadow Minister for Europe became a Shadow Cabinet post for the rest of Foot's tenure as leader).

Shadow Cabinet List

More information Portfolio, Term ...

Initial Shadow Cabinet

Foot announced his first Shadow Cabinet on 8 December 1980, following the 1980 Shadow Cabinet elections.[1]

Changes

1981 reshuffle

On 24 November 1981, after the 1981 Shadow Cabinet elections, Foot reshuffled the Shadow Cabinet. Brynmor John moved from Defence to Social Services and was replaced by Silkin, who retained the post of Shadow Leader of the House. Buchnan replaced Mason at Agriculture. Benn, Mason, and Morris were dropped from the Shadow Cabinet. Peter Archer and Eric Heffer joined the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Attorney General and Shadow Minister for Europe, respectively.[3]

Changes

  • 22 September 1982: McElhone died, replaced by Guy Barnett.
  • 4 November 1982: Lord Cledwyn of Penrhos defeated the incumbent leader in the Lords, Lord Peart, by 60–37.[4] Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede also succeeded Baroness Llewelyn-Davies as Lords Chief Whip for Labour.
  • 24 November 1982: Foot conducted a mini-reshuffle following the 1982 Shadow Cabinet elections. Smith moved from Trade to Energy, and Rees moved to a "policy role".[5] Archer replaced Smith at Trade.[6] In turn, Arthur Davidson replaced him as Shadow Attorney General until he lost his seat in the 1983 General Election, when John Morris returned to the role of Shadow Attorney General (which he would hold through successive leaders until 1997, when he became Attorney General).[7]
  • 20 March 1983: Jones Died, replaced by Denzil Davies[8]

References

  1. [1]
    William Russell (9 December 1980). "Rodgers out in cold". The Glasgow Herald. p. 1.
  2. [2]
    "Labour rebel quits shadow cabinet". Vancouver Sun. Vancouver, British Columbia. Associated Press. p. A9.
  3. [3]
    "Silkin springs to Foot's defence". Evening Times. 24 November 1981. p. 4.
  4. [4]
    "No whip's job for Canavan". The Glasgow Herald. 5 November 1982. p. 6.
  5. [5]
    William Russell (24 November 1982). "Shadow Cabinet takes on a familiar look". p. 1.
  6. [6]
    "Lord Archer of Sandwell". House of Lords Information Office. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
  7. [7]
    "Lord Morris of Aberavon". House of Lords Information Office. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
  8. [8]
    "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 August 2020. Retrieved 19 February 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Shadow_Cabinet_of_Michael_Foot, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.