Hague shadow cabinet

The Shadow Cabinet appointed by Conservative Party leader William Hague was the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet from 1997 to 2001. Following his initial appointments in June 1997, Hague reshuffled the Shadow Cabinet five times before his resignation as leader following defeat in the 2001 general election.

Shadow Cabinet list

Portfolio	Shadow Minister	Term
Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition Leader of the Conservative Party		Rt Hon. William Hague MP	1997–2001
Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party		Rt Hon. Peter Lilley MP	1998–1999
Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer	1997–1998
	Rt Hon. Francis Maude MP	1998–2000
	Rt Hon. Michael Portillo MP	2000–2001
Deputy leader of the Opposition
Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords		Rt Hon. Viscount Cranborne PC	1997–1998
	Rt Hon. Thomas Galbraith, Lord Strathclyde PC	1998–2010
Opposition Chief Whip in the House of Lords	1997–1998
	Oliver Eden, Lord Henley	1998–2001
Opposition Chief Whip		Rt Hon. James Arbuthnot MP	1997–2001
Shadow Lord Chancellor		Rt Hon Christopher Prout, Lord Kingsland QC	1997–2009
Shadow Foreign Secretary		Rt Hon. Michael Howard QC MP	1997–1999
	Rt Hon. John Maples MP	1999–2000
	Rt Hon. Francis Maude MP	2000–2001
Shadow Home Secretary		Rt Hon. Sir Brian Mawhinney MP	1997–1998
	Rt Hon. Sir Norman Fowler MP	1998–1999
	Rt Hon. Ann Widdecombe MP	1999–2001
Chairman of the Conservative Party		Rt Hon. Cecil Parkinson, Lord Parkinson PC	1997–1998
	Rt Hon. Michael Ancram QC MP	1998–2001
Shadow Secretary of State for Defence		Rt Hon. Sir George Young Bt MP	1997–1998
	Rt Hon. John Maples MP	1998–1999
	Rt Hon. Iain Duncan Smith MP	1999–2001
Shadow Secretary of State for Education and Employment		Rt Hon. Stephen Dorrell MP	1997–1998
	David Willetts MP	1998–1999
	Theresa May MP	1999–2001
Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions		Rt Hon. Sir Norman Fowler MP	1997–1998
	Rt Hon. Gillian Shephard MP	1998–1999
	Rt Hon. John Redwood MP	1999–2000
	Archie Norman MP	2000–2001
Shadow Secretary of State for Trade and Industry		Rt Hon. John Redwood MP	1997–1999
	Mrs Angela Browning MP	1999–2000
	Rt Hon. David Heathcoat-Amory MP	2000–2001
Shadow Leader of the House of Commons Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster		Rt Hon. Gillian Shephard MP	1997–1998
	Rt Hon. Sir George Young Bt MP	1998–2000
	Mrs Angela Browning MP	2000–2001
Constitutional Affairs spokesperson, including Scotland and Wales		Rt Hon. Michael Ancram QC MP	1997–1998
	Dr Liam Fox MP	1998–1999
	Rt Hon. Sir George Young Bt MP	1999–2000
	Mrs Angela Browning MP	2000–2001
Shadow Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food		Rt Hon. David Curry MP	1997
	Rt Hon. Michael Jack MP	1997–1998
	Tim Yeo MP	1998–2001
Shadow Secretary of State for International Development		Rt Hon. Alastair Goodlad MP	1997–1998
	Gary Streeter MP	1998–2001
Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury		Rt Hon. David Heathcoat-Amory MP	1997–2000
	Rt Hon. Oliver Letwin MP	2000–2001
Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport		Rt Hon. Francis Maude MP	1997–1998
	Peter Ainsworth MP	1998–2001
Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland		Rt Hon. Andrew Mackay MP	1997–2001
Shadow Secretary of State for Health		John Maples MP	1997–1998
	Rt Hon. Ann Widdecombe MP	1998–1999
	Tim Yeo MP	1999–2003
Shadow Secretary of State for Social Security		Rt Hon. Iain Duncan Smith MP	1997–1999
	David Willetts MP	1999–2005
Shadow Attorney General		Edward Garnier	1997–2001

Initial Shadow Cabinet

June 1998 reshuffle

Hague first reshuffled the Shadow Cabinet on 1 June 1998.

Junior Shadow Ministers

Changes from June 1997

Peter Lilley moves from Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer to Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party
Francis Maude moves from Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport to Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
Sir Brian Mawhinney leaves the Shadow Cabinet
Sir Norman Fowler moves from Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions to Shadow Home Secretary
Gillian Shephard moves from Shadow Leader of the House of Commons to Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions
Sir George Young moves from Shadow Secretary of State for Defence to Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
John Maples moves from Shadow Secretary of State for Health to Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
Ann Widdecombe enters the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Secretary of State for Health
Alastair Goodlad leaves the Shadow Cabinet
Peter Ainsworth enters the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Liam Fox enters the Shadow Cabinet as Constitutional Affairs spokesperson
Gary Streeter enters the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Secretary of State for International Development
David Curry leaves the Shadow Cabinet
Michael Ancram becomes Vice-Chairman of the Conservative Party. A few months later he succeeded Parkinson with his own successor not sitting in the Shadow Cabinet.
Stephen Dorrell leaves the Shadow Cabinet.

December 1998

A minor Shadow Cabinet reshuffle was required on 2 December 1998, due to the sacking of Viscount Cranborne over the House of Lords Act 1999. Cranborne had been engaged in secret negotiations with the Labour Government over the issue of hereditary peers, without informing William Hague. This amendment (proposed by Bernard Weatherill for issues of formality, known as the Weatherill Amendment) allowed 92 hereditary peers to remain. The sacking of Cranborne led to a leadership crisis, with some Conservative peers resigning the party whip.