[rock_climber86]

Tessa Jowell was on BBC news and is apparently the shadow olympics minister. What I don't understand is why Ed Miliband has such a role in his cabinet? I mean there's only one olympics so surely there is no sense in the opposition having an olympics minister? ...especially since Labour are not in power

[Pixxy_]

Basically a way for Labour to express what they would do differently if they were in power and therefore appeal to voters. The shadow minister will investigate and scrutinise the actions of the government regarding the Olympics and point out failures.

[Norton1]

(Original post by Pixxy_)
Basically a way for Labour to express what they would do differently if they were in power and therefore appeal to voters. The shadow minister will investigate and scrutinise the actions of the government regarding the Olympics and point out failures.

Amazing there's only one shadow Olympics minister in that case.

[rock_climber86]

waste of minister then! What will she do after the games?


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[meenu89]

No. I would probably argue that there enough Ministers in the Government already without having to have one more.

[ukip72]

(Original post by rock_climber86)
Tessa Jowell was on BBC news and is apparently the shadow olympics minister. What I don't understand is why Ed Miliband has such a role in his cabinet? I mean there's only one olympics so surely there is no sense in the opposition having an olympics minister? ...especially since Labour are not in power

When it's Labour there is no sense in there being an opposition at all.

[moonkatt]

She's also shadow minister for London so no doubt the Olympics thing ties in with that.

[AspiringGenius]

To be honest even the one olympics minister is excessive.

[Will Lucky]

(Original post by moonkatt)
She's also shadow minister for London so no doubt the Olympics thing ties in with that.

Actually the position no longer exists, one of the first things Cameron did was abolish it because the position made no sense with a Mayor.

[moonkatt]

(Original post by Will Lucky)
Actually the position no longer exists, one of the first things Cameron did was abolish it because the position made no sense with a Mayor.

Ahh ok, makes sense.

[jacketpotato]

There is a shadow minister for everything. I wouldn't really say its a "choice", its just how the political system works.

The shadow minister holds the minister to account, and it also means that the opposition are ready to take over if an election is called.

[feelingsupersonic]

The government decides ministerial roles and the opposition appoints people to shadow these roles to make sure the government is held to account. Perfectly simple.

[gladders]

Shadow ministers don't get additional ministerial pay, so it's no additional burden for the taxpayer.

[@Sam]

If I am not mistaken there is an Olympics Select Committee or similar, as well as the listed above she would be the official representative from the opposition to this body if required.

[Prince Rhyus]

Well...let's have a look at some of the bad things that have happened in relation to the Olympics:

- Sportswear being made in sweatshop conditions in poor countries
- Shortcomings with outsourcing security functions
- Censorship
- Traffic chaos caused by “VIP lanes”
- Poor living conditions for low-paid temporary staff such as cleaners
- Tax breaks
- Human rights abusers coming along
- Draconian security
- Human trafficking

Given the amount of money being spent on the Olympics and the cross-over with so many other things, it's not surprising that there are ministers and shadows for this. Once the Olympics are over, the roles will expire. As it is with Labour, Tessa Jowell (who oversaw much of the Olympics and introduced the original legislation) also covers the "London" portfolio, though I'm not entirely sure what this means as David Cameron scrapped the then ministerial post (that Jowell held) when taking office.

Also, have a look at 5) of the terms and conditions of linking to the Olympics website. Are they really putting terms and conditions on linking to their website?!?

It's stuff like that which needs scrutinising.

[wozza1991]

(Original post by @Sam)
If I am not mistaken there is an Olympics Select Committee or similar, as well as the listed above she would be the official representative from the opposition to this body if required.

I may be wrong, but I think Tessa Jowell actually leads these. I think "shadow minister for the olympics" is a gross simplification of the complicated role she holds. Big events/projects often get appointed ministers, sometimes even of cabinet rank, to make management both accountable, to give some clout and co-ordinate everything through a single individual, e.g. a minister (may have been of cabinet rank at the time, my memory is patchy) was given a special portfolio to liaise with and assist British victims and their families of the 9/11 atrocities. I may be wrong, but Tessa Jowell filled this role (it might have been Harriet Harman).

Tessa Jowell was of course this individual for the olympics under the Labour Governments and she has continued to be employed by the government I believe ever since to provide a degree of continuity. The institutional architecture of her position is very complicated, but she is not simply a shadow minister.