Following Jeremy Corbyn's election as Labour leader in September 2015, Alexander joined the shadow cabinet as Shadow Secretary of State for Health. She became the first shadow cabinet minister to resign in June 2016, calling for a new party leader after the EU referendum and dismissal of Hilary Benn. In an opinion piece for The Guardian, Alexander wrote "I loved being the shadow health secretary. But I hated being part of the shadow cabinet...because it was entirely dysfunctional" and "so inept, so unprofessional, so shoddy".
