Parliamentary oppositionForm of political opposition within a parliamentary system of government Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term government as it is used in parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning the administration or the cabinet rather than the state.
Member of parliamentA member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. Members of parliament typically form parliamentary groups, sometimes called caucuses, with members of the same political party. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members often have a different title.
FrontbencherSenior member of parliament Part of the politics seriesParty politics Political spectrum Left–right spectrum Far-leftLeft-wingCentre-leftCentreCentre-rightRight-wingFar-right Other Big tentRadical centrismSyncretism Major ideologies Agrarianism Anarchism Communism Conservatism Fascism Green politics Liberalism Libertarianism Monarchism Nationalism Progressivism Regionalism Religious democracy Social democracy Socialism Types Antisemitic Bloc Bourgeois Cartel Catch-all Competitive Elite Entrepreneurial Ethnic Euro Fraternal Major and Minor Mass Official party status Parliamentary opposition Party of power Volks Ruling and Opposition Rump Single-issue Transnational or International Taxi Leaders and organization Backbencher Caucus Caucus chair Frontbencher Lead candidate Leader of the Opposition Majority leader Minority leader Political faction Parliamentary leader Party chair Party leader Party spokesperson Party secretary Shadow cabinet Whip Internal elections Primary election Leadership election Open list Party convention/conference Leadership convention Party discipline Conscience vote Crossing the floor Party discipline Party line Party-line vote Party switching Whip Party systems One-party Dominant-partyTwo-partyMulti-party Non-partisan Coalitions between parties Coalition government Confidence and supply Consensus government Cordon sanitaire Divided government Electoral alliance Grand coalition Hung parliament Majority government Minority government National unity government Parliamentary group Rotation government Lists of political parties Ruling political parties by country Political parties by region Banned political parties Largest political parties Politics portalvte In many parliaments and other similar assemblies, seating is typically arranged in banks or rows, with members of parliament from each political party or caucus grouped together.Shadow cabinetFeature of the Westminster system of government Part of the politics seriesParty politics Political spectrum Left–right spectrum Far-leftLeft-wingCentre-leftCentreCentre-rightRight-wingFar-right Other Big tentRadical centrismSyncretism Major ideologies Agrarianism Anarchism Communism Conservatism Fascism Green politics Liberalism Libertarianism Monarchism Nationalism Progressivism Regionalism Religious democracy Social democracy Socialism Types Antisemitic Bloc Bourgeois Cartel Catch-all Competitive Elite Entrepreneurial Ethnic Euro Fraternal Major and Minor Mass Official party status Parliamentary opposition Party of power Volks Ruling and Opposition Rump Single-issue Transnational or International Taxi Leaders and organization Backbencher Caucus Caucus chair Frontbencher Lead candidate Leader of the Opposition Majority leader Minority leader Political faction Parliamentary leader Party chair Party leader Party spokesperson Party secretary Shadow cabinet Whip Internal elections Primary election Leadership election Open list Party convention/conference Leadership convention Party discipline Conscience vote Crossing the floor Party discipline Party line Party-line vote Party switching Whip Party systems One-party Dominant-partyTwo-partyMulti-party Non-partisan Coalitions between parties Coalition government Confidence and supply Consensus government Cordon sanitaire Divided government Electoral alliance Grand coalition Hung parliament Majority government Minority government National unity government Parliamentary group Rotation government Lists of political parties Ruling political parties by country Political parties by region Banned political parties Largest political parties Politics portalvte The shadow cabinet or shadow ministry is a feature of some parliamentary systems of government, chiefly of the Westminster subtype.
Parliamentary systemForm of governmentWorld's states colored by systems of government:Parliamentary systems: Head of government is elected or nominated by and accountable to the legislature. Constitutional monarchy with a ceremonial monarch Semi-constitutional monarchy: Monarch holds significant executive or legislative power but is still restricted by the constitution.
Minister (government)A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the 'prime minister', 'premier', 'chief minister', 'chancellor' or other title.
Westminster systemThe Westminster system, or Westminster model, is a type of parliamentary government found in, and elsewhere derived from, the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Key aspects of the system include an executive branch made up of members of the legislature which is responsible to the legislature, the presence of parliamentary opposition parties, and a ceremonial head of state who is separate from the head of government.
Separation of powersDivision of a state's government into branches The separation of powers principle functionally differentiates several types of state power (usually legislation, adjudication, and execution) and requires these operations of government to be conceptually and institutionally distinct and clearly articulated, thereby maintaining the integrity of each branch. Separation of powers is closely linked to notions of checks and balances.
CommitteeA committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly or organization sends matters to a committee as a way to explore them more fully than would be possible if the whole assembly or organization were considering them.
House of Commons of the United KingdomThe House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 members known as members of Parliament (MPs), who are elected to represent constituencies by the first-past-the-post system and hold their seats until Parliament is dissolved.
GermanyCountry in EuropeGermany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Western and Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north with the Alps to the south. Its 16 constituent states have a total population of over 83 million, making it the most populous member state of the European Union (EU).
SwitzerlandCountry in Central Europe Swiss Confederation Name in official languages and Latin German:Schweizerische EidgenossenschaftFrench:Confédération suisseItalian:Confederazione SvizzeraRomansh:Confederaziun svizraLatin:Confoederatio helvetica Flag Coat of arms Motto: (unofficial)"Unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno""One for all, all for one"Anthem: "Swiss Psalm"Show globeShow map of EuropeLocation of Switzerland (green)in Europe (green and dark grey)CapitalNone (de jure); Bern (de facto)Federal cityBernLargest cityZurichOfficial languagesGerman (62%), French (23%), Italian (8%), Romansh (0.5%)Nationality (2024)72.6% Swiss27.4% foreign nationalsReligion (2024) 54.7% Christianity 30% Catholicism 18.7% Protestantism 6% other Christian 36.8% no religion 6% Islam 1.5% other religions 0.9% unanswered DemonymsEnglish: SwissGerman: Schweizer/SchweizerinFrench: Suisse/SuissesseItalian: svizzero/svizzera or elvetico/elveticaRomansh: Svizzer/SvizraGovernmentFederal assembly-independent directorial republic• Federal Councillors Guy Parmelin (President)Ignazio Cassis (Vice president)Karin Keller-SutterAlbert RöstiÉlisabeth Baume-SchneiderBeat JansMartin Pfister• Federal Chancellor Viktor Rossi LegislatureFederal Assembly• Upper houseCouncil of States• Lower houseNational CouncilHistory• Founded 1 August 1291• Sovereignty recognised (Peace of Westphalia) 24 October 1648• Federal Treaty 7 August 1815• Federal state 12 September 1848 Area • Total41,291 km2 (15,943 sq mi) (132nd)• Water (%)4Population• 2026 estimate 9,154,242 (99th)• 2015 census 8,327,126• Density207/km2 (536.1/sq mi) (67th)GDP (PPP)2026 estimate• Total $960.599 billion (37th)• Per capita $105,680 (6th)GDP (nominal)2026 estimate• Total $1.147 trillion (20th)• Per capita $126,177 (3rd)Gini (2023) 31.5medium inequalityHDI (2023) 0.970very high (2nd)CurrencySwiss franc (CHF)Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)• Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)Date formatdd.mm.yyyy (AD)Calling code+41ISO 3166 codeCHInternet TLD.ch, .swiss Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located at the intersection of Central, Western, and Southern Europe.rank and fileRelated word or term.backbencherRelated word or term.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.