TheOfficial Opposition Shadow Cabinet, orHis Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition Shadow Cabinet, usually simply theShadow Cabinet, is the committee of senior members of theOfficial Opposition who scrutinise the work of theCabinet of the United Kingdom. Each Shadow Cabinet member is typically given a position which corresponds to that of agovernmentminister in Cabinet.
Composition
Shadow Cabinet members, commonly known as shadow ministers, are usually appointed by theleader of the Opposition (currentlyKemi Badenoch). The roles of shadow ministers are to develop alternative policies, hold the government to account for its actions and responses, and act asspokespeople for the opposition party in their own specific policy areas.[1] By convention, shadow ministers are drawn either from serving members of theHouse of Commons or theHouse 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 currentShadow Cabinet.
Not allopposition 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, theOpposition 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 asmembers 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 formfrontbench 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]
^"Shadow cabinet".Institute for Government. 20 May 2021. Retrieved18 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.
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