Parliament has a charming tendency to gift people with very odd job titles, like Shadow Leader of the House. Michael Woodhouse outlines what the job entails (and it's neither shade nor homes).
'The Shadow' or more properly Shadow Leader of the House, Michael Woodhouse, debating in the house.
Parliament has a charming tendency to gift people with very odd job titles: Black Rod, Serjeant-at-Arms, Herald of Arms Extraordinary to the Queen. You get the idea.
These fun titles are also often misleading. The person titled Black Rod is not a stick (surely no surprise), the Serjeant-at-Arms is not a sergeant and is not armed. The Leader of the House is not the person in charge of parliament (that is the Speaker, who mostly listens).
Also confusingly, parliament's job titles often throw linguistic shade on opposition MPs by prefixing their jobs with the word "shadow", adding an ominous air to them. Senior opposition MPs are known as the Shadow Cabinet (very Edgar Allan Poe).
Among their number is Michael Woodhouse whose job is Shadow Leader of the House.
Listen to the radio interview with Michael Woodhouse about his role.
Shadow Leader of the House
On the radio version of The House we regularly talk with the Leader of the House (LOTH), which is currently Grant Robertson.
The LOTH is the government minister with the job of managing the executive's legislative agenda, they chair the Cabinet Legislation Committee (approving new bills), they write the Order Paper determining what government bills will be debated and when, they really do have significant sway on what happens inside the house.
So what does their opposite number, their 'shadow' do? Michael Woodhouse can clear up one potential misunderstanding immediately.
"Shadowing somebody means to sort of follow them around I suppose, which is not a very good descriptor of the role either."
That was not likely to be anyone's conclusion though. It is difficult to imagine Woodhouse meekly wandering around after Robertson like a dazed intern.
The short answer is he represents the National Party (but not the wider opposition) on all the sorts of things that the LOTH looks after. That involves quite a few things.
"Behind the apparent smooth running of parliament is, of course, a pretty big machine that requires quite a bit of organisation and cooperation, and the role of Leader of the House is a really important one."
Cooperation
One key aspect is the cooperation Woodhouse alludes to. Parliament has many rules for how things should work, but MPs regularly agree to disregard them in order to be more efficient, fairer, or more open. Woodhouse describes it as pragmatic…