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Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
	Incumbent; Mel Stride; since 4 November 2024
Style	Shadow Chancellor (informal)
Member of	Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet
Appointer	Leader of the Opposition
Inaugural holder	Rab Butler

The shadow chancellor of the exchequer in the British Parliamentary system is the member of the Shadow Cabinet who is responsible for shadowing the chancellor of the exchequer. The title is given at the gift of the leader of the Opposition and has no formal constitutional role, but is generally considered the second-most senior position, unless a shadow deputy prime minister is chosen, on the opposition frontbench, after the leader. Past shadow chancellors include Harold Wilson, James Callaghan, Edward Heath, Geoffrey Howe, Kenneth Clarke, Gordon Brown, John McDonnell and Rachel Reeves.

The name for the position has a mixed history. It is used to designate the lead economic spokesman for the Opposition. The name 'Shadow Chancellor' has also been used for the corresponding position for the Liberal Democrats, the Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson.^[1] This was a source of humour for Chancellor Gordon Brown, who in 2005 played the two off against one another in Parliament, saying, "I, too, have a great deal of time for the shadow chancellor who resides in Twickenham [Liberal Democrat Vince Cable], rather than the shadow chancellor for the Conservative Party."^[2]

List of shadow chancellors

	Term of office		Party	Shadow Cabinet
Rab Butler	10 December 1950	26 October 1951	Conservative
Hugh Gaitskell	26 October 1951	14 December 1955	Labour	Attlee
Harold Wilson	14 December 1955	2 November 1961		Gaitskell
James Callaghan	2 November 1961	15 October 1964		Gaitskell
James Callaghan	2 November 1961	15 October 1964		Wilson I
Reginald Maudling	15 October 1964	16 February 1965^[3]	Conservative	Douglas-Home
Edward Heath	16 February 1965^[4]	11 November 1965		Heath I
Iain Macleod	11 November 1965	20 June 1970		Heath I
Roy Jenkins	20 June 1970	19 April 1972	Labour	Wilson II
Denis Healey	19 April 1972	4 March 1974	Labour	Wilson II
Robert Carr	4 March 1974	11 February 1975	Conservative	Heath II
Sir Geoffrey Howe	11 February 1975	4 May 1979	Conservative	Thatcher
Denis Healey	4 May 1979	8 December 1980	Labour	Callaghan
Peter Shore	8 December 1980	31 October 1983		Foot
Roy Hattersley	31 October 1983	13 July 1987		Kinnock
John Smith	13 July 1987	24 July 1992		Kinnock
Gordon Brown	24 July 1992	2 May 1997		Smith
				Beckett
				Blair
Ken Clarke	2 May 1997	11 June 1997	Conservative	Major
Peter Lilley	11 June 1997	2 June 1998		Hague
Francis Maude	2 June 1998	1 February 2000
Michael Portillo	1 February 2000	18 September 2001
Michael Howard	18 September 2001	6 November 2003		Duncan Smith
Oliver Letwin	6 November 2003	10 May 2005		Howard
George Osborne	10 May 2005	11 May 2010		Howard
George Osborne	10 May 2005	11 May 2010		Cameron
Alistair Darling	11 May 2010	8 October 2010	Labour	Harman I
Alan Johnson	8 October 2010	20 January 2011		Miliband
Ed Balls	20 January 2011	11 May 2015		Miliband
Chris Leslie	11 May 2015	12 September 2015		Harman II
John McDonnell	13 September 2015	5 April 2020		Corbyn
Anneliese Dodds	5 April 2020	9 May 2021		Starmer
Rachel Reeves	9 May 2021	5 July 2024		Starmer
Jeremy Hunt	8 July 2024	4 November 2024	Conservative	Sunak
Mel Stride	4 November 2024	Incumbent	Conservative	Badenoch

References

^ Parker, George (18 October 2014). "Alexander to replace Cable as LibDem shadow chancellor". Financial Times. London. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
^ Department of the Official Report (Hansard), House of Commons, Westminster (5 December 2005). "House of Commons Hansard Debates for 5 Dec 2005 (pt 8)". Publications.parliament.uk. Archived from the original on 28 October 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Baston 2004, 246
^ Baston 2004, 246