Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government

Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
Incumbent Kemi Badenoch since 8 July 2024
Shadow Cabinet
Appointer	Leader of the Opposition
Formation	11 June 1997
First holder	Norman Fowler
Website	[1]

The shadow secretary of state for housing, communities and local government is a position with the UK Opposition's Shadow Cabinet; if the opposition party forms a new government, the designated person is a likely choice to become the new secretary of state for housing, communities and local government.

The position has existed in many iterations, first as Environment, Transport and the Regions in 1997 after the Government's reorganisation. The portfolio shifted among government departments for many years; under Conservative leader Michael Howard, the arrangement differed slightly, with a shadow secretary of state for local and devolved government affairs in the Howard Shadow Cabinet, supervising a shadow local government secretary and a shadow regions secretary outside of it.^[1]

In 2006, the portfolio was renamed Communities and Local Government, until 2021 when it got its current name with the added portfolio of housing; until 2021, the shadow communities secretary did not hold responsibility for housing as the Labour Party created a separate position, shadow secretary of state for housing in 2016. In 2024, the Labour Party retired the "Levelling up" title from the official cabinet position, with the Conservative Party following suit in their Shadow Cabinet.^[2][3]

The current shadow secretary is Kemi Badenoch.