On May 7, John Major made it clear that in the interim period before the appointment of his successor as leader he did not want to appoint a new shadow cabinet, as that would restrict the actions of the eventual winner of the leadership election. Those cabinet ministers who survived the election will temporarily retain their posts as shadows.
Temporary responsibilities are as follows:
| John Major | Leader/Foreign Affairs and Defence |
| Alistair Goodlad | Leader of the Commons/Shadow Chief Whip |
| Michael Howard | Home Affairs and Constitution |
| William Hague | Wales and Constitution |
| Virginia Bottomley | Heritage |
| Stephen Dorrell | Health |
| Ken Clarke | Chancellor/Treasury Chief Secretary |
| John Gummer | Environment |
| Michael Heseltine | Deputy PM |
| Douglas Hogg | Agriculture |
| Peter Lilley | Social Security |
| Gillian Shephard | Education and Employment |
| Sir George Young | Transport |
| Brian Mawhinney | Party Chairman |
Other responsibilities will be met on an ad hoc basis.
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Source: BBC Political Research Unit