ABSTRACT
The Parliamentary Labour Party, like the national party, represents a coalition of widely differing interests, ranging from the far left to the far right. In Government Ministers are usually so overworked and so cocooned in their departments, that they have little time to keep in touch with rank and file opinion, inside or outside the House. This was a sore point under the Attlee administration. After 1945, a new system of allocating mps to subject and area groups was introduced. This had existed before, but on a rather haphazard basis, mps now belong to area groups, corresponding to the regions of the Labour Party organisation, and serve on subject groups, dealing with a variety of issues ranging from farming to finance. The Parliamentary Labour Party comes under the direction of the Parliamentary Committee, known as the ‘Shadow Cabinet’ when the party is in Opposition.
