Shadow Cabinet of John Major

Major Shadow Cabinet
Shadow cabinet of the United Kingdom
May – June 1997
Date formed	2 May 1997
Date dissolved	19 June 1997
People and organisations
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Leader of the Opposition	John Major
Deputy Leader of the Opposition	Michael Heseltine
Member party	Conservative Party
Status in legislature	Official Opposition 165 / 659 (25%)
History
Election	1997 general election
Outgoing election	1997 Conservative Party leadership election
Legislature terms	52nd UK Parliament
Predecessor	Shadow Cabinet of Tony Blair
Successor	Shadow Cabinet of William Hague

John Major was Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from 2 May 1997, following his defeat at the 1997 general election, until 19 June 1997, when William Hague 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 was not filled as the Conservatives had lost all their Scottish MPs in the election. Michael Howard and William Hague were given joint responsibility for constitutional matters, including the brief to handle the Scottish and Welsh devolution^[1] legislation.