Shadow Minister for International Development
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The shadow minister for international development is the lead spokesperson for the United Kingdom's Official Opposition on issues related to international aid, most notably to the Third World. The shadow cabinet minister holds the minister of state for development and Africa to account in Parliament. The role previously had no counterpart in the Government between 2020 and 2022 after the Department for International Development (DFID) and the role of international development secretary was abolished by the second Johnson government in 2020. The position was renamed from shadow secretary of state for international development in November 2021 and placed under the shadow foreign secretary.
The shadow minister also holds the foreign secretary and other FCDO ministers to account in Parliament. DFID was abolished in 2020 but Keir Starmer retained the role in his Shadow Cabinet.
Before Tony Blair established DfID in his first government after coming to power in 1997, there was a minister for overseas development ("minister of" before 1970) who was a part of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Since 1989, the shadow minister or shadow secretary has usually been a member of the shadow cabinet.
Shadow ministers and secretaries
| Shadow Minister for Overseas Development | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Took office | Left office | Political party | Leader | ||
| Robert Carr | October 1964 | October 1965 | Conservative | Alec Douglas-Home | ||
| Christopher Chataway | October 1965 | 31 March 1966 | Conservative | Edward Heath | ||
| Richard Wood | April 1966 | c. October 1967 | Conservative | |||
| Bernard Braine | c. October 1967 | 15 June 1970 | Conservative | |||
| Judith Hart | 19 June 1970 | 4 March 1974 | Labour | Harold Wilson | ||
| Richard Wood | 4 March 1974 | 18 February 1975 | Conservative | Edward Heath | ||
| Unclear; possibly none | 18 February 1975 | 15 January 1976 | Conservative | Margaret Thatcher | ||
| Richard Luce | 15 January 1976 | 4 May 1979 | Conservative | |||
| Judith Hart | 4 May 1979 | 8 December 1980 | Labour | James Callaghan | ||
| Frank McElhone | 8 December 1980 | 22 September 1982 | Labour | Michael Foot | ||
| Guy Barnett | 24 November 1982 | 31 October 1983 | Labour | |||
| Stuart Holland | 31 October 1983 | 13 July 1987 | Labour | Neil Kinnock | ||
| Unclear | 13 July 1987 | 2 November 1989 | Labour | |||
| Ann Clwyd | 2 November 1989 | 18 July 1992 | Labour | |||
| Michael Meacher | 18 July 1992 | 21 October 1993 | Labour | John Smith | ||
| Tom Clarke | 21 October 1993 | 20 October 1994 | Labour | |||
| Margaret Beckett | ||||||
| Joan Lestor | 20 October 1994 | October 1996 | Labour | Tony Blair | ||
| Clare Short | 25 July 1996 | 2 May 1997 | Labour | |||
| Shadow Secretary of State for International Development | ||||||
| Name | Took office | Left office | Political party | Leader | ||
| The Baroness Chalker of Wallasey | 2 May 1997 | 30 June 1997 | Conservative | John Major | ||
| Alastair Goodlad | 30 June 1997 | 1 June 1998 | Conservative | William Hague | ||
| Gary Streeter | 1 June 1998 | 14 September 2001 | Conservative | |||
| Caroline Spelman | 14 September 2001 | 10 November 2003 | Conservative | Iain Duncan Smith | ||
| John Bercow | 10 November 2003 | 8 September 2004 | Conservative | Michael Howard | ||
| Alan Duncan | 8 September 2004 | 10 May 2005 | Conservative | |||
| Andrew Mitchell | 10 May 2005 | 11 May 2010 | Conservative | |||
| Douglas Alexander | 11 May 2010 | 8 October 2010 | Labour | Harriet Harman | ||
| Harriet Harman | 8 October 2010 | 7 October 2011 | Labour | Ed Miliband | ||
| Ivan Lewis | 7 October 2011 | 7 October 2013 | Labour | |||
| Jim Murphy | 7 October 2013 | 2 November 2014 | Labour | |||
| Mary Creagh | 5 November 2014 | 12 September 2015 | Labour | |||
| Harriet Harman | ||||||
| Diane Abbott | 13 September 2015 | 27 June 2016 | Labour | Jeremy Corbyn | ||
| Kate Osamor | 27 June 2016 | 1 December 2018 | Labour & Co-op | |||
| Dan Carden | 1 December 2018 | 6 April 2020 | Labour | |||
| Preet Kaur Gill | 6 April 2020 | 29 November 2021 | Labour & Co-op | Keir Starmer | ||
| Shadow Cabinet Minister for International Development | ||||||
| Name | Took office | Left office | Political party | Leader | ||
| Preet Gill | 29 November 2021 | 4 September 2023 | Labour & Co-op | Keir Starmer | ||
| Lisa Nandy | 4 September 2023 | 5 July 2024 | Labour | |||
| Shadow Minister for Development | ||||||
| Name | Took office | Left office | Political party | Leader | ||
| Harriett Baldwin | 19 July 2024 | 5 November 2024 | Conservative | Rishi Sunak | ||
| Wendy Morton | 6 November 2024 | incumbent | Conservative | Kemi Badenoch |