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Second Heath Shadow Cabinet
Shadow Cabinet of the United Kingdom
1974 – 1975
Date formed	4 March 1974
Date dissolved	11 February 1975
People and organisations
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Leader of the Opposition	Edward Heath
Member party	Conservative Party
Status in legislature	Official Opposition 297 / 635 (47%) (February 1974) 277 / 635 (44%) (October 1974)
History
Election	February 1974 United Kingdom general election
Legislature terms	46th UK Parliament 47th UK Parliament
Predecessor	Second Shadow Cabinet of Harold Wilson
Successor	Shadow Cabinet of Margaret Thatcher

The Second Shadow Cabinet of Edward Heath was created after the Conservative Party lost the February 1974 general election. It was led by the Leader of the Conservative Party Edward Heath and featured prominent Conservative politicians both past and future. Included was Heath's successor Margaret Thatcher, the future Home Secretary William Whitelaw, and two future Foreign Secretaries, Lord Carrington and Francis Pym. For the first time in history, a leadership election was held in 1975 for the Conservative Party whilst the position was not vacant. Margaret Thatcher challenged Heath, with whom the majority of the party was dissatisfied because of repeated losses at elections. She won, becoming the first female leader of a major political party in Britain.

Shadow cabinet list

References

1. McMahon Flatt, Joan (2012). Powerful Political Women: Stirring Biographies of Some of History's Most Powerful Women. iUniverse. p. 201. ISBN 9781462068197.

Further reading

• Margaret Thatcher: The Authorized Biography Volume 1: Not For Turning by Charles Moore

v t e Edward Heath
Premiership	Heath ministry Accession to the European Communities European Communities Act 1972 Local Government Act 1972 1972 miners' strike Three-Day Week
Opposition leadership	Shadow cabinets First Second Declaration of Perth
Elections	Party elections 1965 1975 General elections 1966 1970 February 1974 October 1974
Constituencies	Bexley Sidcup Old Bexley and Sidcup
Cultural depictions	Heathco Newsletter (Private Eye parody) "Teach Yourself Heath" (Single, 1975) The Long Walk to Finchley (TV film, 2008) Margaret (TV film, 2009) The Queen (TV serial, 2009) The Iron Lady (Film, 2011) The Crown S3 E8: "Dangling Man" S3 E9: "Imbroglio"
Related articles	Arundells A Question of Europe 1987 University of Oxford Chancellor election Elm Guest House hoax Operation Midland Operation Whistle Father of the House Morning Cloud (yachts)

v t e Shadow Cabinets of the United Kingdom
Official Opposition	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

• British shadow cabinets
• 1974 in British politics
• 1974 establishments in the United Kingdom
• 1975 disestablishments in the United Kingdom
• Edward Heath
• Conservative Party (UK) shadow cabinets