After the 2015 UK general election, in the Second Shadow Cabinet of Harriet Harman, Benn was named Shadow Foreign Secretary, after the incumbent, Douglas Alexander, lost his seat to Mhairi Black of the SNP.
On 17 June, Benn deputised for Harriet Harman at Prime Minister's Questions, when David Cameron was overseas in Europe, and Benn was Harman's unofficial deputy.
One of the questions he asked challenged George Osborne, who was deputising for Cameron, over whether HMS Bulwark was under active review as revealed in a report by The Guardian.
Writing for the New Statesman, George Eaton commended Benn's performance, saying: "Benn smartly denied the Chancellor the chance to deploy his favourite attack lines by devoting his six questions to national security and the Mediterranean refugee crisis, rather than the economy."

In September 2015, both leadership and deputy leadership elections took place in the Labour Party.
Benn supported Caroline Flint in the deputy leadership election, and Andy Burnham in the leadership election.
Following the election of Jeremy Corbyn as Leader of the Labour Party in September, Benn retained the role of Shadow Foreign Secretary in Corbyn's shadow cabinet, and stressed that Labour would campaign to remain in the EU "under all circumstances".
This was later affirmed by a joint statement released by both Benn and Corbyn, which said that "Labour will be campaigning in the referendum for the UK to stay in the European Union."

On 20 September, Benn signalled that Labour could back Prime Minister David Cameron's plans for airstrikes against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Syria: "What we've said consistently is that the government, if it has got a proposal, should bring that to the House of Commons.
In relation to airstrikes, we shall look at the objectives.
At the moment we don't know what the proposal is ... We will judge that against the objective, the legal base ..." In November 2015, after the Paris attacks that had occurred a few days earlier, Benn initially agreed with Corbyn's position rejecting the proposal for Britain to launch airstrikes against ISIL in Syria and any intervention.
However, Benn subsequently supported plans laid out by the Prime Minister, and said he would not resign over his disagreement with Corbyn because he was "doing [his] job as the Shadow Foreign Secretary".
Benn had voted in favour of the Iraq War in 2003 and the 2011 military intervention in Libya, but voted against military intervention against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in 2013.

On 2 December 2015, Benn made the closing speech for the official opposition in the House of Commons debate on airstrikes against ISIL in Syria.
 The speech opposed the position espoused by Corbyn against the government's motion.
The speech was applauded by some MPs on both sides of the house, a gesture not usually permitted in the Commons.
Along with a minority of shadow cabinet colleagues, he voted for airstrikes in Syria and the motion passed by a higher-than-expected majority of 174 votes.
The Conservative Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond described Benn's oration as "one of the truly great speeches in Commons history".
Speaking to the BBC the following day, Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell compared Benn's speech to that given by Prime Minister Tony Blair in 2003 ahead of the Iraq War.
McDonnell described it as an "excellent" piece of oratory, but added: "The greatest oratory can lead us to the greatest mistakes."
According to Labour MP Jamie Reed, following his speech, in the eyes of Corbyn, Benn became "at best a rebel, at worst a traitor."

In January 2016, Benn criticised British involvement in Saudi Arabian-led military intervention in Yemen after a leaked UN report concluded there had been "widespread and systematic" attacks on civilian targets in violation of international humanitarian law.

On 25 June 2016, The Observer revealed that Benn "called fellow MPs over the weekend to suggest that he will ask Corbyn to stand down if there is significant support for a move against the leader.
He has also asked shado
After the 2015 UK general election, in the Second Shadow Cabinet of Harriet Harman, Benn was named Shadow Foreign Secretary, after the incumbent, Douglas Alexander, lost his seat to Mhairi Black of the SNP. On 17 June, Benn deputised for Harriet Harman at Prime Minister's Questions, when David Cameron was overseas in Europe, and Benn was Harman's unofficial deputy. One of the questions he asked challenged George Osborne, who was deputising for Cameron, over whether HMS Bulwark was under active review as revealed in a report by The Guardian. Writing for the New Statesman, George Eaton commended Benn's performance, saying: "Benn smartly denied the Chancellor the chance to deploy his favourite attack lines by devoting his six questions to national security and the Mediterranean refugee crisis, rather than the economy."
In September 2015, both leadership and deputy leadership elections took place in the Labour Party. Benn supported Caroline Flint in the deputy leadership election, and Andy Burnham in the leadership election. Following the election of Jeremy Corbyn as Leader of the Labour Party in September, Benn retained the role of Shadow Foreign Secretary in Corbyn's shadow cabinet, and stressed that Labour would campaign to remain in the EU "under all circumstances". This was later affirmed by a joint statement released by both Benn and Corbyn, which said that "Labour will be campaigning in the referendum for the UK to stay in the European Union."
On 20 September, Benn signalled that Labour could back Prime Minister David Cameron's plans for airstrikes against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Syria: "What we've said consistently is that the government, if it has got a proposal, should bring that to the House of Commons. In relation to airstrikes, we shall look at the objectives. At the moment we don't know what the proposal is ... We will judge that against the objective, the legal base ..." In November 2015, after the Paris attacks that had occurred a few days earlier, Benn initially agreed with Corbyn's position rejecting the proposal for Britain to launch airstrikes against ISIL in Syria and any intervention. However, Benn subsequently supported plans laid out by the Prime Minister, and said he would not resign over his disagreement with Corbyn because he was "doing [his] job as the Shadow Foreign Secretary". Benn had voted in favour of the Iraq War in 2003 and the 2011 military intervention in Libya, but voted against military intervention against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in 2013.
On 2 December 2015, Benn made the closing speech for the official opposition in the House of Commons debate on airstrikes against ISIL in Syria.  The speech opposed the position espoused by Corbyn against the government's motion. The speech was applauded by some MPs on both sides of the house, a gesture not usually permitted in the Commons. Along with a minority of shadow cabinet colleagues, he voted for airstrikes in Syria and the motion passed by a higher-than-expected majority of 174 votes. The Conservative Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond described Benn's oration as "one of the truly great speeches in Commons history". Speaking to the BBC the following day, Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell compared Benn's speech to that given by Prime Minister Tony Blair in 2003 ahead of the Iraq War. McDonnell described it as an "excellent" piece of oratory, but added: "The greatest oratory can lead us to the greatest mistakes." According to Labour MP Jamie Reed, following his speech, in the eyes of Corbyn, Benn became "at best a rebel, at worst a traitor."
In January 2016, Benn criticised British involvement in Saudi Arabian-led military intervention in Yemen after a leaked UN report concluded there had been "widespread and systematic" attacks on civilian targets in violation of international humanitarian law.
On 25 June 2016, The Observer revealed that Benn "called fellow MPs over the weekend to suggest that he will ask Corbyn to stand down if there is significant support for a move against the leader. He has also asked shado
Hilary Benn