Shadow Cabinet

This article is about the political institution. For other uses, see Shadow Cabinet (disambiguation).

The Shadow Cabinet (also called the Shadow Front Bench or Shadow Ministry) is a senior group of opposition spokespeople in the Westminster system of government who together under the leadership of the Leader of the Opposition form an alternative cabinet to the government's, whose members shadow or mark each individual member of the government. Members of a shadow cabinet are often but not always appointed to a Cabinet post if and when their party gets into government. It is the Shadow Cabinet's responsibility to pass criticism on the current government and its respective legislation, as well as offering alternative policies.

In the United Kingdom and Canada the major opposition party and specifically its shadow cabinet is often called His or Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition.^[1] The adjective "loyal" is used because, while the role of the opposition is to oppose Her Majesty's Government, it does not dispute the sovereign's right to the throne and therefore the legitimacy of the government. However in other countries that use the Westminster system (for example, New Zealand), the opposition is known simply as The Parliamentary Opposition instead of shadow.

Some parliamentary parties, notably the Australian Labor Party, elect all the members of their shadow cabinets in a partyroom ballot, with the Leader of the Opposition then allocating portfolios to the Shadow Ministers. In other parliamentary parties, the membership and composition of the Shadow Cabinet is generally determined solely by the Leader of the Opposition.

In most countries, a member of the shadow cabinet is referred to as a Shadow Minister. In Canada, however, the term Opposition Critics is more usual.

List of Shadow Cabinets

Australia

• Shadow Cabinet of Australia (Liberal/National Coalition) (Tony Abbott)

New South Wales

• New South Wales Shadow Cabinet (Australian Labor Party) (John Robertson)

The Bahamas

• Shadow Cabinet (The Bahamas) (Progressive Liberal Party) (Perry Christie)

Canada

• Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet of the 41st Parliament of Canada (New Democratic Party) (Nycole Turmel)

France

• Contre-gouvernement (counter-government), dubbed by the media "cabinet fantôme" (literally : ghost cabinet). (Socialist Party (France)) (Martine Aubry)

Ireland, Republic of

• Opposition Front Bench (Ireland) (Fianna Fáil) (Micheál Martin)

Israel

• Shadow government (Israel) (Kadima) (Tzipi Livni)

Italy

• Shadow Cabinet of Italy (Governo ombra) (Walter Veltroni)

Japan

• Liberal Democratic Party of Japan (Sadakazu Tanigaki)

New Zealand

• Official Opposition (New Zealand) (New Zealand Labour Party) (Phil Goff)

Poland

• Shadow Cabinet (Law and Justice) (Jarosław Kaczyński)

Romania

• Shadow Cabinet (Romanian: Cabinetul din umbră)

Slovenia

• Expert Council of the Slovenian Democratic Party

Solomon Islands

• Shadow Cabinet of Solomon Islands (Democratic Party and allies)

South Africa

• Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (South Africa) (Democratic Alliance) (Lindiwe Mazibuko)

Thailand

• Shadow Cabinet (Pheu Thai Party) (Chalerm Ubumrung)

Ukraine

• Shadow Government (Bloc of Yulia Tymoshenko, Arseniy Yatsenyuk)

United Kingdom

• Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (United Kingdom) (Labour) (Ed Miliband)

Scotland

• Shadow Cabinet (Scottish Parliament) (Scottish Labour Party) (Iain Gray)

Wales

• Official Shadow Cabinet (National Assembly for Wales) (Welsh Conservative Party) (Andrew RT Davies)

See also

• Shadow government

References

1. ^ Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition