In British politics, the Shadow Home Secretary is the person within the shadow cabinet

Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (UK)

The Official Loyal Opposition Shadow Cabinet are, in British parliamentary practice, senior members of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition who scrutinise their corresponding office holders in the Government, develop alternative policies, and hold the Government to account for its actions and responses...

 who 'shadows' the Home Secretary

Home Secretary

The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...

; this effectively means scrutinising government policy on home affairs including policing, national security

National security

National security is the requirement to maintain the survival of the state through the use of economic, diplomacy, power projection and political power. The concept developed mostly in the United States of America after World War II...

, immigration

Immigration

Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...

, the criminal justice system, the prison service

Prison

A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...

, and matters of citizenship

Citizenship

Citizenship is the state of being a citizen of a particular social, political, national, or human resource community. Citizenship status, under social contract theory, carries with it both rights and responsibilities...

. If and when the opposition party is elected to government, the Shadow Home Secretary often becomes the new Home Secretary

Home Secretary

The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...

 though this is not always the case. The present Shadow Home Secretary is Yvette Cooper

Yvette Cooper

Yvette Cooper is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford since 2010, having previously been MP for Pontefract and Castleford since 1997. She served in the Cabinet between 2008 and 2010. She is the Shadow Home Secretary...

.

Loyal Opposition Shadow Home Secretaries

Name		Portrait	Entered office	Left office	Political party
	Kenneth Younger Kenneth Younger Sir Kenneth Gilmour Younger KBE was a British Labour politician and barrister who served in junior government posts during the Attlee government and was an opposition spokesman under Hugh Gaitskell but retired from Parliament early, disillusioned by party politics.-Family:Younger was the son of...		14 December 1955	13 May 1957	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
	Patrick Gordon Walker Patrick Gordon Walker Patrick Chrestien Gordon Walker, Baron Gordon-Walker CH, PC was a British Labour Party politician. He was a Member of Parliament for nearly thirty years, and served twice as a Cabinet minister...		13 May 1957	12 March 1962	Labour
	George Brown George Brown, Baron George-Brown George Alfred Brown, Baron George-Brown, PC was a British Labour politician, who served as the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 1960 to 1970, and served in a number of positions in the Cabinet, most notably as Foreign Secretary, in the Labour Government of the 1960s...		12 March 1962	15 February 1963	Labour
	Frank Soskice		15 February 1963	15 October 1964	Labour
	Edward Boyle		15 October 1964	28 July 1965	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
	Peter Thorneycroft Peter Thorneycroft George Edward Peter Thorneycroft, Baron Thorneycroft CH, PC , was a British Conservative Party politician. He served as Chancellor of the Exchequer between 1957 and 1958.-Biography:...		28 July 1965	13 April 1966	Conservative
	Quintin McGarel Hogg Quintin Hogg, Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone For the businessman and philanthropist, see Quintin Hogg Quintin McGarel Hogg, Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone, KG, CH, PC, QC, FRS , formerly 2nd Viscount Hailsham , was a British politician who was known for the longevity of his career, the vigour with which he campaigned for the Conservative...		13 April 1966	18 June 1970	Conservative
	James Callaghan James Callaghan Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, KG, PC , was a British Labour politician, who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1976 to 1980...		18 June 1970	19 October 1971	Labour
	Shirley Williams		19 October 1971	4 May 1973	Labour
	Roy Jenkins Roy Jenkins Roy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead OM, PC was a British politician.The son of a Welsh coal miner who later became a union official and Labour MP, Roy Jenkins served with distinction in World War II. Elected to Parliament as a Labour member in 1948, he served in several major posts in...		4 May 1973	4 March	Labour
	Keith Joseph Keith Joseph Keith St John Joseph, Baron Joseph, Bt, CH, PC , was a British barrister and politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he served in the Cabinet under three Prime Ministers , and is widely regarded to have been the "power behind the throne" in the creation of what came to be known as...		4 March	11 February 1975	Conservative
	Ian Gilmour Ian Gilmour, Baron Gilmour of Craigmillar Ian Hedworth John Little Gilmour, Baron Gilmour of Craigmillar, PC, was a Conservative politician in the United Kingdom. He was styled Sir Ian Gilmour, 3rd Baronet from 1977, having succeeded to his father's baronetcy, until he became a life peer in 1992. He served as Secretary of State for...		11 February 1975	11 April 1976	Conservative
	William Whitelaw William Whitelaw, 1st Viscount Whitelaw William Stephen Ian Whitelaw, 1st Viscount Whitelaw, KT, CH, MC, PC, DL , often known as Willie Whitelaw, was a British Conservative Party politician who served in a wide number of Cabinet positions, most notably as Home Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister.-Early life:Whitelaw was born in Nairn, in...		11 April 1976	4 May 1979	Conservative
	Merlyn Rees		4 May 1979	8 December 1980	Labour
	Roy Hattersley Roy Hattersley Roy Sydney George Hattersley, Baron Hattersley is a British Labour politician, author and journalist from Sheffield. He served as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 1983 to 1992.-Early life:...		8 December 1980	31 October 1983	Labour
	Gerald Kaufman Gerald Kaufman Sir Gerald Bernard Kaufman is a British Labour Party politician, who has been a Member of Parliament since 1970, first for Manchester Ardwick, and then subsequently for Manchester Gorton...		31 October 1983	13 July 1987	Labour
	Roy Hattersley Roy Hattersley Roy Sydney George Hattersley, Baron Hattersley is a British Labour politician, author and journalist from Sheffield. He served as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 1983 to 1992.-Early life:...		13 July 1987	24 July 1992	Labour
	Tony Blair Tony Blair Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...		24 July 1992	20 October 1994	Labour
	Jack Straw Jack Straw Jack Straw , British politician.Jack Straw may also refer to:* Jack Straw , English* "Jack Straw" , 1971 song by the Grateful Dead* Jack Straw by W...		20 October 1994	2 May 1997	Labour
	Michael Howard Michael Howard Michael Howard, Baron Howard of Lympne, CH, QC, PC is a British politician, who served as the Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from November 2003 to December 2005...		2 May 1997	11 June 1997	Conservative
	Brian Mawhinney Brian Mawhinney Brian Stanley Mawhinney, Baron Mawhinney PC is a British Conservative Party politician. He was a member of the Cabinet from 1994 until 1997 and a Member of Parliament from 1979 until 2005.-Early life:...		11 June 1997	2 June 1998	Conservative
	Norman Fowler Norman Fowler Norman Fowler, Baron Fowler, PC is a British Conservative politician who was from 1981 to 1990 a member of Margaret Thatcher's Cabinet.-Early life:...		2 June 1998	15 June 1999	Conservative
	Ann Widdecombe Ann Widdecombe Ann Noreen Widdecombe is a former British Conservative Party politician and has been a novelist since 2000. She is a Privy Councillor and was the Member of Parliament for Maidstone from 1987 to 1997 and for Maidstone and The Weald from 1997 to 2010. She was a social conservative and a member of...		15 June 1999	18 September 2001	Conservative
	Oliver Letwin Oliver Letwin Oliver Letwin MP FRSA is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he is currently the Minister of State at the Cabinet Office, and a Member of Parliament representing the constituency of West Dorset...		18 September 2001	6 November 2003	Conservative
	David Davis David Davis (British politician) David Michael Davis is a British Conservative Party politician who is the Member of Parliament for the constituency of Haltemprice and Howden...		6 November 2003	12 June 2008	Conservative
	Dominic Grieve Dominic Grieve Dominic Charles Roberts Grieve, QC MP is a British Conservative politician, barrister and Queen's Counsel.He is the Member of Parliament for Beaconsfield and the Attorney General for England and Wales and the Advocate General for Northern Ireland.-Early life:Grieve was born in Lambeth, the son of...		12 June 2008	19 January 2009	Conservative
	Chris Grayling Chris Grayling Christopher Stephen "Chris" Grayling, PC, MP , is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he served in the Shadow Cabinet from 2005 to 2010 and was the party's Shadow Home Secretary from 2009 to 2010. Following the 2010 general election, he was appointed a Minister of State in the...		19 January 2009	11 May 2010	Conservative
	Alan Johnson Alan Johnson Alan Arthur Johnson is a British Labour Party politician who served as Home Secretary from June 2009 to May 2010. Before that, he filled a wide variety of cabinet positions in both the Blair and Brown governments, including Health Secretary and Education Secretary. Until 20 January 2011 he was...		11 May 2010	8 October 2010	Labour
	Ed Balls Ed Balls Edward Michael Balls, known as Ed Balls, is a British Labour politician, who has been a Member of Parliament since 2005, currently for Morley and Outwood, and is the current Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer....		8 October 2010	20 January 2011	Labour
	Yvette Cooper Yvette Cooper Yvette Cooper is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford since 2010, having previously been MP for Pontefract and Castleford since 1997. She served in the Cabinet between 2008 and 2010. She is the Shadow Home Secretary...		20 January 2011	present	Labour

Third Party Shadow Home Secretaries

Name		Title(s)	Tenure	Political party
	The Rt Hon Alan Beith Alan Beith Sir Alan James Beith is a British Liberal Democrat politician and Member of Parliament for Berwick-upon-Tweed.-Early life:Alan Beith was born in 1943 in Poynton, in Cheshire...  MP	Deputy Leader and Frontbench Spokesperson for Home & Legal Affairs	May 1997 – August 1999	Lib Dem
	Simon Hughes Simon Hughes Simon Henry Ward Hughes is a British politician and Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats. He is Member of Parliament for the constituency of Bermondsey and Old Southwark. Until 2008 he was President of the Liberal Democrats...  MP	Frontbench Spokesperson for Home & Legal Affairs	August 1999 – October 2003
	Mark Oaten Mark Oaten Mark Oaten is a former British Liberal Democrat politician. He served as the Member of Parliament for Winchester from 1997 to 2010, and was his party's Home Affairs spokesperson from 2003 to 2006...  MP	Shadow Home Secretary	October 2003 – March 2006
	Nick Clegg Nick Clegg Nicholas William Peter "Nick" Clegg is a British Liberal Democrat politician who is currently the Deputy Prime Minister, Lord President of the Council and Minister for Constitutional and Political Reform in the coalition government of which David Cameron is the Prime Minister...  MP	Shadow Home Secretary	March 2006 – December 2007
	Chris Huhne Chris Huhne Christopher Murray Paul-Huhne, generally known as Chris Huhne is a British politician and cabinet minister, who is the current Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for the Eastleigh constituency in Hampshire...  MP	Shadow Home Secretary	December 2007 – May 2010
	Since May 2010, there has been no third party, the Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the... being the junior party in a coalition government