Elections to the Labour Party's Shadow Cabinet (more formally, its "Parliamentary Committee") took place on 4 December 1980, having been delayed due to the October election of new Party Leader Michael Foot. In addition to the 12 members elected, the Leader (Foot), Deputy Leader (Denis Healey), Labour Chief Whip (Michael Cocks), Labour Leader in the House of Lords (Lord Peart), and Chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party (Fred Willey) were automatically members.
Two winners of the 1979 election were not re-elected: Healey was elected Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, so did not need to run for election to the Shadow Cabinet. David Owen did not return. He informed Michael Foot of his decision not to run in November, after the PLP rejected "one member, one vote" and it became clearer to him that he would be defecting. Not long afterward, he joined Bill Rodgers (who did win a seat in the Shadow Cabinet), Shirley Williams, and Roy Jenkins in founding the Social Democratic Party. Because of Rodgers's defection, Tony Benn joined the Shadow Cabinet in January 1981 by virtue of being the top loser.[1]
The 12 winners of the election are listed below:[2][3]
| Colour key | Retained in the Shadow Cabinet |
|---|---|
| Joined the Shadow Cabinet |
| Rank | Prior rank | Candidate | Constituency | Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Roy Hattersley | Birmingham Sparkbrook | 143 |
| 2 | 5 | Eric Varley | Chesterfield | 141 |
| 3 | – | Gerald Kaufman | Manchester Ardwick | 139 |
| 4† | 9 | Merlyn Rees | Leeds South | 125 |
| 4† | 3 | Peter Shore | Stepney and Poplar | 125 |
| 6 | 6 | Stan Orme | Salford West | 119 |
| 7 | 2 | John Silkin | Lewisham Deptford | 118 |
| 8† | 7 | Albert Booth | Barrow and Furness | 116 |
| 8† | 8 | Bill Rodgers | Stockton-on-Tees | 116 |
| 10 | 11 | Roy Mason | Barnsley | 114 |
| 11 | 12 | John Smith | North Lanarkshire | 112 |
| 12 | ? | Neil Kinnock | Bedwellty | 90 |
| 13 | ? | Tony Benn | Bristol South East | 88 |
| 14 | ? | Bruce Millan | Glasgow Craigton | 82 |
| 15 | ? | Brynmor John | Pontypridd | 80 |
| 16 | ? | Eric Heffer | Liverpool Walton | 71 |
| 17 | ? | Denis Howell | Birmingham Small Heath | 69 |
| 18 | ? | Norman Buchan | West Renfrewshire | 67 |
| 19 | ? | Dickson Mabon | Greenock and Port Glasgow | 63 |
| 20 | ? | Tam Dalyell | West Lothian | ? |
| ? | ? | Peter Archer | Warley West | 57 |
| ? | ? | Robin Cook | Edinburgh Central | 56 |
| ? | ? | Gwyneth Dunwoody | Crewe | 28 |