Shadow Cabinet of Wales

The Welsh Shadow Cabinet (Welsh: Cabinet Cysgodol Cymru) is formed from members of the official opposition in the Senedd, the largest party not part of the Welsh Government, to scrutinise ministers in the Welsh Cabinet. It is led by the Leader of the Opposition, who typically appoints members of the Senedd (MSs) from their party as shadow ministers with portfolios which mirror ministerial posts in the Cabinet who scrutinise ministers and can propose their own alternative policies. Other opposition parties in the Senedd also appoint frontbench teams of spokespeople who perform the same function. These are also sometimes styled as "shadow cabinets" by their parties, though unlike the Shadow Cabinet they have no official recognition. Since 2021, the Shadow Cabinet has been formed from members of the Welsh Conservatives led by Andrew RT Davies, who have alternated with Plaid Cymru as the official opposition in the Senedd since its establishment as the National Assembly for Wales in 1999.

The first shadow cabinet of Wales was formed by Plaid Cymru's Dafydd Wigley in 1999. Its members were elected to shadow portfolios by members of the Plaid Cymru Group in the National Assembly for Wales. In 2000, Plaid Cymru's Ieuan Wyn Jones succeeded Wigley as Leader of the Opposition and formed a new shadow cabinet, this time personally appointing its members; since then, members of the Shadow Cabinet have usually been appointed by the Leader of the Opposition. Leaders may reshuffle their shadow cabinet, swapping members' portfolios and appointing new members to the Shadow Cabinet. The official opposition can also appoint party staff and spokespeople to the Shadow Cabinet who have no shadow ministerial portfolio.

The Shadow Cabinet presents itself as an alternative government-in-waiting. It is tasked with scrutinising government ministers, and its members are meant to lead the official opposition in challenging members of the Welsh Government and taking them to account. As party group spokespeople in the Senedd, shadow ministers are able to speak for their respective party and question their relevant ministerial counterparts at plenary sessions of the Senedd.

Conservative Shadow Cabinet

Main article: Fourth Shadow Cabinet of Andrew RT Davies

Portfolio	Name			Constituency	Term
Leader of the Opposition Leader of the Welsh Conservatives			Andrew RT Davies MS	South Wales Central	2021–
Shadow Minister for Finance and Local Government			Peter Fox MS	Monmouth	2021–
Shadow Minister for Mid Wales and Deputy Whip			Russell George MS	Montgomeryshire	2021–
Shadow Minister for West Wales			Paul Davies MS	Preseli Pembrokeshire	2021–
Shadow Minister for Climate Change			Janet Finch-Saunders MS	Aberconwy	2021–
Shadow Minister for Culture, Sport, Tourism and Social Justice			Laura Anne Jones MS	South Wales East	2021–
Shadow Counsel General and Shadow Minister for Housing and Planning			Mark Isherwood MS	North Wales	2021–
Shadow Minister for the Constitution and North Wales, Chief Whip and Business Manager			Darren Millar MS	Clwyd West	2021–
Shadow Minister for Social Care			Altaf Hussain MS	South Wales West	2021–
Shadow Minister for Economy			Samuel Kurtz MS	Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire	2021–
Shadow Minister for Health			Sam Rowlands MS	North Wales	2021–
Shadow Minister for Rural Affairs			James Evans MS	Brecon and Radnorshire	2021–
Shadow Minister for Transport			Natasha Asghar MS	South Wales East	2021–
Shadow Minister for Mental Health and Early Years			Gareth Davies MS	Vale of Clwyd	2021–
Shadow Minister for Education and Welsh Language			Tom Giffard MS	South Wales West	2021–
Shadow Minister for Social Partnership			Joel James MS	South Wales Central	2021–

Plaid Cymru Shadow Cabinet

Rhun ap Iorwerth was announced as a new leader of Plaid Cymru on the 16 June 2023. He announced his shadow cabinet on the 27 June.

Plaid Cymru shadow cabinet (as of June 2024)

Portfolio	Name			Constituency or electoral region	Term
Leader of Plaid Cymru Shadow Minister for the Constitution and International Affairs			Rhun ap Iorwerth MS	Ynys Môn	2023–
Deputy Leader and Shadow Minister for Climate Change			Delyth Jewell MS	South Wales East	2023–
Shadow Minister for Agriculture and Rural Affairs Chair of the Senedd Group			Llyr Huws Gruffydd MS	North Wales	2023–
Shadow Minister for Finance, Welsh Language and Culture Business Manager			Heledd Fychan MS	South Wales Central	2023–
Shadow Minister for Health and Social Care Chief Whip			Mabon ap Gwynfor MS	Dwyfor Meirionnydd	2023–
Shadow Minister for Justice and European Affairs Senedd Commissioner			Adam Price MS	Carmarthen East and Dinefwr	2023–
Shadow Minister for Local Government and Transport			Peredur Owen Griffiths MS	South Wales East	2023–
Shadow Minister for Social Justice and Early Years Deputy Whip			Sioned Williams MS	South Wales West	2023–
Shadow Minister for the Economy and Energy			Luke Fletcher MS	South Wales West	2023–
Shadow Minister for Housing and Planning			Siân Gwenllian MS	Arfon	2023–
Shadow Minister for Education			Cefin Campbell MS	Mid and West Wales	2023–

2016 Plaid-Conservative Shadow Cabinets

At the 2016 election, Plaid Cymru, led by Leanne Wood, won 12 seats to the Welsh Conservatives' 11, and thus became the largest party not in government. On 14 October 2016 Dafydd Elis-Thomas left Plaid Cymru to sit as an independent, so that Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Conservatives both held 11 seats. During this period, Wood was not referred to as Leader of the Opposition, but merely as leader of Plaid Cymru. The Conservative group grew to 12 when Mark Reckless defected from UKIP to the Conservative group on 6 April 2017, and the Welsh Conservative leader, Andrew RT Davies at the time, was referred to as Leader of the Opposition once more.

See also

• Gething government