Elections to the Labour Party's Shadow Cabinet (more formally, its "Parliamentary Committee") took place on 18 November 1982. In addition to the 15 members elected, the Leader (Michael Foot), Deputy Leader (Denis Healey), Labour Chief Whip (Michael Cocks), Labour Leader in the House of Lords (Lord Cledwyn of Penrhos), and Chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party (Jack Dormand) were automatically members.
All 15 members elected the previous year were retained. The value of being the top loser dropped as by-elections would be held for future vacancies under a change in the Parliamentary Labour Party's rules. The results for 20 of the 40 candidates are listed below[N 1]:[2]
| Rank |
Prior rank |
Candidate |
Constituency |
Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Gerald Kaufman | Manchester Ardwick | 142 |
| 2 | 7 | Neil Kinnock | Bedwellty | 131 |
| 3 | 1 | Peter Shore | Stepney and Poplar | 129 |
| 4 | 3 | Roy Hattersley | Birmingham Sparkbrook | 127 |
| 5 | 5 | Eric Varley | Chesterfield | 122 |
| 6 | 8 | Albert Booth | Barrow and Furness | 118 |
| 7 | 4 | John Silkin | Lewisham Deptford | 103 |
| 8 | 9 | John Smith | North Lanarkshire | 102 |
| 9 | 14 | Peter Archer | Warley West | 101 |
| 10 | 11 | Stan Orme | Salford West | 100 |
| 11 | 6 | Merlyn Rees | Leeds South | 93 |
| 12 | 10 | Brynmor John | Pontypridd | 90 |
| 13= | 15 | Gwyneth Dunwoody | Crewe | 85 |
| 13= | 12 | Bruce Millan | Glasgow Craigton | 85 |
| 15 | 13 | Eric Heffer | Liverpool Walton | 82 |
| 16 | ? | Tony Benn | Bristol South East | 75 |
| 17† | 17 | Robin Cook | Edinburgh Central | 73 |
| 17† | ? | Joan Lestor | Eton and Slough | 73 |
| 19 | ? | John Golding | Newcastle-under-Lyme | 72 |
| 20 | 16 | Norman Buchan | West Renfrewshire | 70 |
There were 52 nominations last night for the 15 Shadow Cabinet posts. This is a record figure and compares with 40 last year.
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