Abstract
When Neil Kinnock was elected Leader of the Labour Party on 2 October 1983 he was in no doubt about the nature of the challenges he faced or the magnitude of the task ahead. As two observers put it, ‘Neil's leadership will either act as a midwife to the rebirth of the party as a mass force in British politics again or preside over its collapse into a totally marginal force’. In formal terms, Shadow Cabinet is the team of senior spokespeople chosen by the Leader of the Opposition to mirror Cabinet in Government. Each member of the shadow cabinet is appointed to lead on a specific policy area for their party and to question and challenge their counterpart in Cabinet. Traditionally, whenever the Labour Party was in opposition it held regular elections to the Shadow Cabinet. Thus, Shadow Cabinet members would be elected by the MPs in the Parliamentary Labour Party, typically at the beginning of a Parliamentary session.
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