First Shadow Cabinet of Edward Heath

First Shadow Cabinet of Edward Heath
First Shadow Cabinet of Edward Heath
; Shadow Cabinet of United Kingdom
1965 – 1970
Date formed	28 July 1965
Date dissolved	19 June 1970
People and organisations
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Leader of the Opposition	Edward Heath
Deputy Leader of the Opposition	Reginald Maudling
Member party	Conservative Party;
Status in legislature	Official Opposition 303 / 630 (48%) (1964) ; 251 / 630 (40%) (1966)
History
Legislature terms	43rd UK Parliament; 44th UK Parliament
Incoming formation	1965 Conservative Party leadership election
Outgoing formation	1970 United Kingdom general election
Predecessor	Shadow Cabinet of Alec Douglas-Home
Successor	Second Shadow Cabinet of Harold Wilson

The First Shadow Cabinet of Edward Heath was created on 28 July 1965 after the Conservative Party elected Edward Heath as its leader, replacing Alec Douglas-Home.

Shadow cabinet list

Portfolio	Shadow Minister	Term
Leader of Her Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition Leader of the Conservative Party	Edward Heath	1965–70
Deputy Leader of the Opposition Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party	Reginald Maudling	1965–70
Shadow Secretary of State for External Affairs	Sir Alec Douglas-Home	1965–66
Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer	Iain Macleod	1965–70
Shadow Foreign Secretary	Christopher Soames	1965–66
Shadow Foreign Secretary	Alec Douglas-Home	1966–70
Shadow Home Secretary	Peter Thorneycroft	1965–66
Shadow Home Secretary	Quintin Hogg	1966–70
Shadow Secretary of State for Defence	Enoch Powell	1965–68
	Reginald Maudling	1968
	Geoffrey Rippon	1968–70
Shadow Secretary of State for Trade and Steel Shadow President of the Board of Trade	Anthony Barber	1965–67
	Keith Joseph	1967–70
Shadow Secretary of State for Education and Science	Edward Boyle	1965–69
Shadow Secretary of State for Education and Science	Margaret Thatcher	1969–70
Shadow Minister for Labour	Keith Joseph	1965–67
Shadow Minister for Labour	Robert Carr	1967–70
Shadow Minister for Social Services	Keith Joseph	1965–66
	Mervyn Pike	1966–67
	Robert Lindsay	1967–70
Shadow Minister for Technology	Ernest Marples	1965–66
Shadow Minister for Housing and Land	John Boyd-Carpenter	1965–66
	Geoffrey Rippon	1966–68
	Peter Walker	1968–70
Shadow Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food	Joseph Godber	1965–70
Shadow Minister of Transport	Martin Redmayne	1965–66
	Peter Walker	1966–68
	Margaret Thatcher	1968–69
	Peter Walker	1969–70
Shadow Commonwealth Secretary	Selwyn Lloyd	1965–66
	Reginald Maudling	1966–68
	Alec Douglas-Home	1968
Shadow Minister for Power	Anthony Barber	1966–67
	Keith Joseph	1967
	Margaret Thatcher	1967–68
Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland	Michael Noble	1965–69
Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland	Gordon Campbell	1969–70
Shadow Secretary of State for Wales	Peter Thorneycroft	1965–66
Shadow Secretary of State for Wales	Unknown	1966–70
Chairman of the Conservative Party	Edward du Cann	1965–67
Chairman of the Conservative Party	Anthony Barber	1967–70
Opposition Chief Whip	William Whitelaw	1965–70
Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords	Lord Carington	1965–70
Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords	Viscount Dilhorne	1965–66
	Baron Harlech	1966–67
	Earl Jellicoe	1967–70
Shadow Minister without Portfolio	Duncan Sandys	1965–66
Shadow Minister without Portfolio	Quintin Hogg	1965–66
Other frontbenchers
Shadow Minister for Power	John Peyton	1965–66
Shadow Minister for Power	Sir John Eden	1968–70

Initial Shadow Cabinet

Heath announced his Shadow Cabinet on 5 August 1965.^[1]

Edward Heath – Leader of Her Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition and Leader of the Conservative Party
Reginald Maudling – Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party and Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Alec Douglas-Home – Shadow Secretary of State for External Affairs
Christopher Soames – Shadow Foreign Secretary
Selwyn Lloyd – Shadow Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations
Enoch Powell – Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
Iain Macleod – Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer and Shadow Secretary of State for Economic Affairs
Anthony Barber – Shadow President of the Board of Trade and Shadow Secretary of State for Steel
Peter Thorneycroft – Shadow Home Secretary and Shadow Secretary of State for Wales
Edward Boyle – Shadow Secretary of State for Education and Science
Keith Joseph – Shadow Minister for Social Services and Shadow Minister for Labour
Ernest Marples – Shadow Minister for Technology
John Boyd-Carpenter – Shadow Minister for Housing and Land
Joseph Godber – Shadow Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
Martin Redmayne – Shadow Minister of Transport
Michael Noble – Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland
Edward du Cann – Chairman of the Conservative Party
Lord Carington – Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords
Viscount Dilhorne – Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords
Duncan Sandys and Quintin Hogg – Shadow Minister without Portfolio

Junior Shadow Ministers

In October 1965 Heath announced the rest of his frontbench team.^[2]

Agriculture, Fisheries and Food

James Scott-Hopkins – Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food

Aviation

Broadcasting and Post Office

Defence

Tufton Beamish, Ronald Bell, John Eden, Nicholas Ridley – Shadow Ministers for Defence

Education and Science

John Hill and David Price – Shadow Ministers for Education and Science

External Affairs

Home Office

Housing and Land

John Hay, Graham Page and Margaret Thatcher – Shadow Ministers for Housing and Land

Law

Labour and Social Services

Power

Public Building and Works

Scotland

Techology

John Biffen – Shadow Minister of State for Technology

Transpory

David Webster – Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport

Treasury, Econmic Affairs and Trade

April 1966 reshuffle

Following the 1966 election Heath was forced to reshuffle his frontbench as three members of the Shadow Cabinet (Soames, Thorneycroft and Redmayne) had lost their seats.^[3]

Junior Shadow Ministers

Changes

22 February 1967 - Anthony Barber become a Shadow Minister without Portfolio, Keith Joseph replaces hime at Trade and Industry with Robert Carr joining the shadow cabinet as Shadow Minister for Labour as well as Aviation.^[4]
27 June 1967 - Lord Harlech resigns as Deputy Leader in the Lords and is replaced by Earl Jellicoe.^[5]
11 September 1967 - Edward du Cann resigns as party chairman and is replaced by Barber.
10 October 1967 - Mervyn Pike resigns and is replaced by Robert Lindsay. Margaret Thatcher enters the shadow cabinet as Shadow Minister for Power. Patrick Jenkin replaces Thatcher at the Treasury.^[6]
21 April 1968 - Enoch Powell is sacked from the shadow cabinet after his racist Rivers of Blood speech the day before. Maudling becomes Shadow Defence Secretary and Douglas-Home Shadow Commonwealth Secretary

November 1968 reshuffle

Another reshuffle was conducted in November 1968.^[7]

Edward Heath – Leader of Her Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition and Leader of the Conservative Party
Reginald Maudling – Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party and Shadow Minister with responsibility for policy formation
Alec Douglas-Home – Shadow Foreign Secretary
Iain Macleod – Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer and Shadow Secretary of State for Economic Affairs
Quintin Hogg – Shadow Home Secretary
Geoffrey Rippon – Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
Edward Boyle – Shadow Secretary of State for Education and Science
Keith Joseph – Shadow President of the Board of Trade
Robert Carr – Shadow Minister for Labour
Joseph Godber – Shadow Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
Peter Walker – Shadow Minister for Housing and Land
Michael Noble – Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland
Robert Lindsay – Shadow Secretary of State for Social Services
Margaret Thatcher – Shadow Minister of Transport
Anthony Barber – Chairman of the Conservative Party
Lord Carington – Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords
Earl Jellicoe – Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords

Junior Shadow Ministers

Changes

15 October 1969 – Edward Boyle resigns as Shadow Education Secretary.^[9]
21 October 1969 – Thatcher replaces Boyle at Education. Keith Joseph takes Technology and Power, Walker adds Transport to Housing and Local Government.^[10]

References

^ "Heath's Shadow Cabinet". The Glasgow Herald. 5 August 1965. p. 1. Retrieved 16 April 2025.
^ "Heath's Second Team". The Glasgow Herald. 6 October 1965. p. 18. Retrieved 16 April 2025.
^ "Mr Heath Streamlines His Team". The Glasgow Herald. 20 April 1966. p. 1. Retrieved 16 April 2025.
^ "Barber is Key in Shadow Cabinet Moves". The Glasgow Herald. 23 February 1967. p. 17. Retrieved 16 April 2025.
^ "Deputy Resigns". The Vancouver Sun. London. United Press International. 27 June 1967. p. 17. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
^ "Younger Tories In Shadow Cabinet". The Glasgow Herald. 11 October 1967. Retrieved 17 April 2025.
^ "Maudling Leads Tory General Election Drive". The Glasgow Herald. 15 November 1968. p. 1. Retrieved 16 April 2025.
^ Robert Malcolm Punnett (1973). Front-bench opposition; the role of the Leader of the Opposition, the Shadow Cabinet and Shadow Government in British politics. London. pp. 458–467. Retrieved 18 April 2025.
^ "Boyle's "I Quit" shock for Heath". The Glasgow Herald. Evening Times. 15 October 1969. Retrieved 16 April 2025.
^ John Warden (22 October 1969). "Shadow Cabinet's Three Changes". The Glasgow Herald. p. 24. Retrieved 16 April 2025.

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[1] "Heath's Shadow Cabinet". The Glasgow Herald. 5 August 1965. p. 1. Retrieved 16 April 2025.

[2] "Heath's Second Team". The Glasgow Herald. 6 October 1965. p. 18. Retrieved 16 April 2025.

[3] "Mr Heath Streamlines His Team". The Glasgow Herald. 20 April 1966. p. 1. Retrieved 16 April 2025.

[4] "Barber is Key in Shadow Cabinet Moves". The Glasgow Herald. 23 February 1967. p. 17. Retrieved 16 April 2025.

[5] "Deputy Resigns". The Vancouver Sun. London. United Press International. 27 June 1967. p. 17. Retrieved 6 May 2025.

[6] "Younger Tories In Shadow Cabinet". The Glasgow Herald. 11 October 1967. Retrieved 17 April 2025.

[7] "Maudling Leads Tory General Election Drive". The Glasgow Herald. 15 November 1968. p. 1. Retrieved 16 April 2025.

[8] Robert Malcolm Punnett (1973). Front-bench opposition; the role of the Leader of the Opposition, the Shadow Cabinet and Shadow Government in British politics. London. pp. 458–467. Retrieved 18 April 2025.

[9] "Boyle's "I Quit" shock for Heath". The Glasgow Herald. Evening Times. 15 October 1969. Retrieved 16 April 2025.

[10] John Warden (22 October 1969). "Shadow Cabinet's Three Changes". The Glasgow Herald. p. 24. Retrieved 16 April 2025.

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v t e Shadow Cabinets of the United Kingdom
Official Opposition	Churchill (1945–1951) Attlee (1951–1955) Gaitskell (1955–1963) Brown (1963) Wilson I (1963–1964) Douglas-Home (1964–1965) Heath I (1965–1970) Wilson II (1970–1974) Heath II (1974–1975) Thatcher (1975–1979) Callaghan (1979–1980) Foot (1980–1983) Kinnock (1983–1992) Smith (1992–1994) Beckett (1994) Blair (1994–1997) Major (1997) Hague (1997–2001) Duncan Smith (2001–2003) Howard (2003–2005) Cameron (2005–2010) Harman I (2010) Miliband (2010–2015) Harman II (2015) Corbyn (2015–2020) Starmer (2020–2024) Sunak (2024) Badenoch (2024–present)
Liberal Democrats	Ashdown (1997–1999) Kennedy (1999–2006) Campbell (2006–2007) Cable I (2007) Clegg (2007–2010) Farron (2015–2017) Cable II (2017–2019) Swinson (2019) Davey (2020–present)
Scottish National Party	Robertson (2015–2017) Blackford (2017–2022) Flynn (2022–present)
1964 to Present