Second Shadow Cabinet of Bill English

rdf:langString Second Shadow Cabinet of Bill English

rdf:langString The second Shadow Cabinet of Bill English formed the official Opposition in the 52nd New Zealand Parliament from 2 November 2017 until 11 March 2018, during Bill English's second term as Leader of the Opposition. The Shadow Cabinet was formed after the 2017 New Zealand general election, when a new Government was formed by the New Zealand Labour Party, New Zealand First party and Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand. As the largest party not in government, the New Zealand National Party became the official opposition. National Party leader Bill English assigned spokesperson roles to his MPs in order to scrutinise the policies and actions of the government, as well to offer an alternative program. As many National MPs were Ministers in the previous National-led Government, many of them were named Spokespersons for areas in which they had previously had ministerial responsibility. Most other MPs picked up minor portfolios, although new MPs were not assigned any particular responsibilities. In early 2018, English resigned from the leadership and was replaced as National Party leader by Simon Bridges on 27 February 2018. Other than Bridges' succession to the leadership, no changes to portfolio responsibilities were named until 11 March 2018, when Bridges announced his own Shadow Cabinet.