What does the shadow cabinet mean?

Shadow Cabinet refers to the preparatory cabinet set up by non-ruling parties in multi-party countries to prepare for coming to power, also known as "preparatory cabinet" and "opposition cabinet". The shadow cabinet is often formed by the leader of the largest opposition party in the House of Commons, looking for influential members of the same party in the House of Commons and appearing in the form of a cabinet. 1907, Austen Chamberlain, leader of the British Conservative Party, first used this term, which was later adopted by some Commonwealth countries.

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Although the "shadow cabinet" is called "shadow", it is far from being comparable to "shadow" in terms of its practical role and future destiny in the political life of the country. The "shadow cabinet" not only disagrees with the current cabinet, but takes pleasure in fighting with it. The "shadow cabinet" is responsible for leading all the activities of the party members in the House of Commons. During the parliamentary debate, the "shadow ministers" will speak enthusiastically and criticize the faults and shortcomings of the current cabinet.

The "shadow cabinet" will exert various pressures on the current cabinet, and its existence is to urge the current cabinet to step down and eventually replace it. The "shadow cabinet" when a political party is in opposition is often the current cabinet when the party is in power. The whole team is sometimes copied and sometimes slightly adjusted, but the policy and strategy will not change fundamentally. Therefore, it seems more accurate to refer to the "shadow cabinet" as "reserve cabinet" or "opposition cabinet".