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Shadow Cabinet

Shadow Cabinet

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

New South Wales

The Bahamas

Canada

France

Ireland, Republic of

Israel

Italy

Japan

New Zealand

Poland

Romania

  • Shadow Cabinet (Romanian: Cabinetul din umbră)

Slovenia

  • Expert Council of the Slovenian Democratic Party

Solomon Islands

South Africa

Thailand

Ukraine

United Kingdom

Scotland

Wales

See also

References

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Look at other dictionaries:

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