This article about the Iraqi prison scandal says:
So what’s a Shadow Foreign Secretary? Is he the real Foreign Secretary’s dark evil twin?
This article about the Iraqi prison scandal says:
So what’s a Shadow Foreign Secretary? Is he the real Foreign Secretary’s dark evil twin?
The shadow is the member of the official opposition given responsibility, by the leader of the opposition, for holding the minister to account and dealing with the policies of the opposition in that area.
It’s not an official position, in that I don’t think you get an enhanced salary (the leader of the opposition does however) or car or anything.
The parliamentary opposition, currently the Conservatives, maintain an unofficial “shadow cabinet” consisting of their spokesmen/women on each area of government policy. Each government cabinet minister has his or her shadow, whose job it is to follow the minister’s progress, criticise him/her, develop and promote the opposition party’s policy etc. So there’s also a Shadow Chancellor, Shadow Home Secretary etc. (but no “Shadow Prime Minister”, because that person has an official title, Leader of the Opposition). Should the opposition win an election, usually the members of the shadow cabinet get the job they’ve been shadowing.
I dunno… maybe its a Secretary that hides in a Foreigners Shadow :dubious:
Thanks, blokes (or blokettes), I get it now.
Yes.
That actually sounds like a good system. The United States could sure as heck use a Shadow Secretary of Defense right about now. Tho’ we’d have to call them something else; if the media started reporting statements made by “Shadow Secretary Ted Kennedy,” everyone would think that the Illuminati had taken over or something
In Ireland they’re just referred to as the “(Opposition Party) (Govt. Department) Spokesperson”.
This is also the same for the smaller ( IE non official opposition parties ) in the UK. Thus the liberal Democrats have MPs who take an interest in certain departments of the government.
I don’t know the US system at all, but surely the Democrats have some kind of defense spokesperson? And if Kerry were elected, is there not some idea of who would be in his cabinet (if you use the term ‘cabinet’)?
The closest thing would be the senior Democrats on the House and Senate armed services committees.
As for the cabinet, there is some speculation, but no hard facts. The cabinet is not part of the legislative branch, and cabinet secretaries can be anyone (subject to approval from the Senate.) They don’t even have to be politicians at all.
No and no. One might sperculate on the individuals who might comprise a Kerry cabinet, but that dont ascend based on their current position. It is worth noting that a President only nominates candidates, who must then be approved by the Senate.
If the shadow cabinet is compised of members of parliament, does that mean that the cabinet secretaries also remain in the parliament? What happens to the Foreign Secretary when the Conservatove party takes control?
Translation please
Labour’s Foreign Secretary will then become the Shadow Foreign Secretary.
We don’t have the same separation between executive and legislative branches that you guys have. All members of the cabinet (including Tony Blair) are members of parliament, if they lost their jobs for any reason, they would still remain in their positions representing their constituencies.
If the Conservatives win the next election and form a government, the Labour party would have a shadow cabinet which may well include some people in the current cabinet.
I believe the system of “shadow cabinet” is a british peculiarity. There aren’t necessarily such spokepersons specialized in a given domain in other countries.
In Canada, they are collectively referred to as the “Shadow Cabinet” but individually have the title “Critic” after the area they’re responsible for. So, Foreign Affairs Critic, Health Critic, etc. etc.
Are members of the shadow cabinet provided with any kind of staff or resources for evaluating and critiqueing government policy? I know the cases are only loosely comparable, but the minority party on Congressional committees is provided with a budget for hiring staff, conducting research, etc. I can’t imagine that a single shadow cabinet member would be able to monitor, interpret and criticize the workings of an entire ministry (and develop solid counter-proposals) without a pretty substantial support structure.
That’s a refreshingly honest title.
As I understand it, if a Conservative Party candidate became Prime Minister, the shadow secretaries would automatically become the members of that canididate’s cabinet. By contrast, Kerry (or any president) may choose anyone to serve on his cabinet. They need not be (and usually aren’t) members of Congress.
Colin Powell, our Secretary of State, was an Army General and never served in Congress. Donald Rumsfeld, the Secretary of Defense, served in the House of Represenatives from 1962-1969, but had been out of Congress for more than 30 years when President Bush nominated him. If Bush is not re-elected, both become unemployed.
At times, Presidents are discouraged from selecting active members of the Congress to serve on their cabinet. They would have to resign from the Congress to serve on the cabinet, and a member of the other party might get their seat – affecting the balance of power.
He and the other officials are responsible for enforcing the policies of the Shadows. It may seem like a sweet deal now. But when the Vorlons show up, they’re in big trouble!