Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (United Kingdom)
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The Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet, or His Majesty’s Most Loyal Opposition Shadow Cabinet, but usually simply the Shadow Cabinet, is the committee of senior members of the Official Opposition who scrutinise the work of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. Each Shadow Cabinet member is typically given a position which corresponds to that of a government minister in Cabinet. Shadow Cabinet members, commonly known as shadow ministers, are usually appointed by the leader of the Opposition (currently Rishi Sunak). The roles of shadow ministers are to develop alternative policies, hold the government to account for its actions and responses, and act as spokespeople for the opposition party in their own specific policy areas.[1] By convention, shadow ministers are drawn either from serving members of the House of Commons or the House of Lords, with most chosen from the former. Since July 2024, the Conservative Party has been the Official Opposition, and its leadership therefore forms the current Shadow Cabinet.
Not all opposition frontbenchers are members of the Shadow Cabinet, which is composed of the most senior opposition members (usually they number around twenty).
The leader of the Opposition, the Opposition chief whip and Opposition deputy chief whip are the only members of the Official Opposition in the House of Commons to be paid for their opposition roles in addition to their salaries as members of Parliament. The leader of the Opposition and the Opposition chief whip in the House of Lords also receive a salary.
Other parties may also form frontbench teams of spokespeople which may be referred to as shadow cabinets by the party (e.g. the Liberal Democrats in 2019), but these are not part of the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet.[2]
Current Shadow Cabinet
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See also
- His Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition (United Kingdom)
- Official Opposition frontbench
- List of British shadow cabinets
- List of shadow holders of the Great Offices of State
- Cabinet of the United Kingdom
References
- ^ "Shadow cabinet". Institute for Government. 20 May 2021. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
The shadow cabinet is made up of senior members of the main opposition party in Westminster, who act as spokespeople for the opposition in specific policy areas. Their job is to scrutinise those they 'shadow' in government, and develop policies for their party.
- ^ "Announcing the new Lib Dem Shadow Cabinet". 25 December 2019. Archived from the original on 25 December 2019. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
- ^ "UK politics live: Anxiety over NHS legitimate but I'm optimistic about future, says Wes Streeting". BBC News. Archived from the original on 8 July 2024. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
External links
- His Majesty's Official Opposition – official UK Parliament webpage
| Official Opposition |
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| Liberal Democrats | |
| Scottish National Party | |
1964 to Present | |
