Shadow Secretary of State for Employment

The Shadow Secretary of State for Employment was an office within British politics held by a member of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition. The duty of the office holder was to scrutinise the actions of the government's Secretary of State for Employment and develop alternative policies. The office was replaced by that of Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions after the creation of the Department for Work and Pensions.

List of Shadow Secretaries

Shadow Secretary			Took office	Left office	Political Party	Leader of the Opposition
	Barbara Castle		19 June 1970	19 October 1971	Labour	Harold Wilson
	James Callaghan		19 October 1971	19 April 1972	Labour
	Reg Prentice		19 April 1972	4 March 1974	Labour
	William Whitelaw		11 March 1974	29 October 1974	Conservative	Edward Heath
	James Prior		29 October 1974	4 May 1979	Conservative
						Margaret Thatcher
	Albert Booth		4 May 1979	14 July 1979	Labour	James Callaghan
	Eric Varley		14 July 1979	31 October 1983	Labour
						Michael Foot
	John Smith		31 October 1983	26 October 1984	Labour	Neil Kinnock
	John Prescott		26 October 1984	13 July 1987	Labour
	Michael Meacher		13 July 1987	2 November 1989	Labour
	Tony Blair		2 November 1989	18 July 1992	Labour
	Frank Dobson		18 July 1992	21 October 1993	Labour	John Smith
	John Prescott		21 October 1993	20 October 1994	Labour
	Harriet Harman		20 October 1994	19 October 1995	Labour	Tony Blair
Shadow Secretary			Took office	Left office	Political Party	Leader of the Opposition
	David Blunkett		19 October 1995	2 May 1997	Labour	Tony Blair
	Gillian Shephard		2 May 1997	11 June 1997	Conservative	John Major
	Stephen Dorrell		11 June 1997	15 June 1998	Conservative	William Hague
	David Willetts		1 June 1998	15 June 1999	Conservative
	Theresa May		15 June 1999	18 September 2001	Conservative