Shadow home secretary

Shadow Home Secretary
Incumbent Diane Abbott since 6 October 2016
Appointer	Leader of the Opposition
Website	The Shadow Cabinet

In British politics, the Shadow Home Secretary is the person within the shadow cabinet who 'shadows' the Home Secretary; this effectively means scrutinising government policy on home affairs including policing, national security, immigration, the criminal justice system, the prison service, and matters of citizenship. If the opposition party is elected to government, the Shadow Home Secretary often becomes the new Home Secretary though this is not always the case. The office was held by Labour MP Andy Burnham until 28 September 2016.