John Major,
Leader of the Conservative Party was
Leader of the Opposition from 2 May 1997, following his defeat at the
1997 general election, until 19 June 1997, when
William Hague
William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
was
elected to succeed him. Following the defeat, Major announced his resignation as leader. But, for logistical reasons, a new leader could not be elected for several weeks. In the intervening period, Major appointed an interim Shadow Cabinet.
The
Shadow Cabinet was based on
Major's final Cabinet. However, as seven
Cabinet Ministers had lost their seats in the general election and another had not contested his seat, there were several vacancies. These were largely filled by either Major himself or by a relevant minister in the outgoing Cabinet.
The position of
Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland
The Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland is a member of the UK Shadow Cabinet responsible for the scrutiny of the Secretary of State for Scotland and his/her department, the Scotland Office. The incumbent holder of the office is Ian Murray. ...
was not filled as the Conservatives had lost all their Scottish MPs in the election.
Michael Howard and
William Hague
William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
were given joint responsibility for constitutional matters, including the brief to handle the
Scottish devolution
Devolution is the process in which the central British parliament grants administrative powers (excluding principally reserved matters) to the devolved Scottish Parliament. Prior to the advent of devolution, some had argued for a Scottish ...
legislation.
Shadow Cabinet list
See also
External links
*
{{John Major
Official Opposition (United Kingdom)
1997 establishments in the United Kingdom
1997 in British politics
John Major
1997 disestablishments in the United Kingdom
British shadow cabinets
Conservative Party (UK)-related lists