The Shadow Cabinet

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-11494915

Does anyone else wonder about Britain's shadow cabinet? Well here are some answers.

The full name of the shadow cabinet is the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet. It is made up of the leaders from the opposition party, which is currently the Labour Party, also known as Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition.  

Leader: Ed Miliband
Deputy Leader and Shadow Culture: Harriet Harman
Shadow Chancellor: Ed Balls

Besides the three leaders above, there are various ministers that make up the shadow cabinet. Each member has a specific role (i.e. foreign secretary, home secretary, justice secretary, etc.). There are also party whips, a Leader of the Lords, a Leader of the Commons, and a Party Deputy Chair. You can read about each shadow cabinet member on the website linked above.

There is not a set number of members of the shadow cabinet. Usually around twenty of the most senior members of the opposition party make up the shadow cabinet. They develop policy in opposition to the cabinet.

Compared to the current cabinet in Great Britain, there are far more women in the shadow cabinet. The official cabinet is made up a similar members as the shadow cabinet, only the leader is the Prime Minister and the Conservative Party is in control. There are currently 21 ministers that are part of the cabinet, but other frontbenchers from the party may attend cabinet meetings. The Prime Minister selects all the members of cabinet. These ministers can be chosen from either the House of Commons or the House of Lords, although the large majority come from the House of Commons. In order to earn an appointment in the cabinet, MPs must win the support of the party, not necessarily constituents, and can spend years in Parliament before becoming an important cabinet member.