Shadows Reshuffled

One of the essential features of the British parliamentary system is the shadow Cabinet. Seated on the Opposition front bench in Commons, each of its members is assigned to shadow a minister in the regular Cabinet, catch him up wherever possible, and be prepared to take over if the Opposition party comes to power.

Opposition Leader Sir Alec Douglas-Home last week reshuffled the shadows, and thereby accomplished two things: 1) a general face lift to prepare the party for new elections, which Sir Alec thinks likely before the end of the year, and 2) consolidation of his own grip as party chief by balancing off Reginald Maudling and Ted Heath, the most promising younger Tory leaders.

Broadened Horizon. The shuffle of the "Conservative Consultative Com mittee," as the Tory shadow Cabinet is formally called, was occasioned by the resignation from Commons of Rab Butler, 62, who ends his long, brilliant, but in the end frustrated political career by moving to the House of Lords. In for Butler as shadow Foreign Secretary went Reggie Maudling, who needs to broaden his basically economic background if he is ever to become Prime Minister. Maudling also retained his post as Home's stand-in at the powerful party leaders' committee, which makes him the closest thing to deputy leader known in the Tory Party. Maudling's former job as shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer went to Ted Heath, who also continues as shadow Economics Minister--making him the Tories' undisputed economic czar. Thus, while Maudling stands higher in the party hierarchy, Heath is in position to shine in the Commons on the most important domestic political occasions.

Another comer on the Tory front bench is Christopher Soames, Winston Churchill's son-in-law, who moved up from Agriculture to replace troublesome Peter Thorneycroft as shadow Defense Minister. Thorneycroft, whose wildly expensive projects for military aircraft had proved embarrassing to Sir Alec, was reassigned to shadow the Home Office, where he will have less chance to get into mischief. The irascible and erratic Quintin Hogg, who had contested Sir Alec's nomination as Prime Minister in 1963, was another casualty: he was replaced as shadow Minister of Education and Science, henceforth assigned only to undefined "special duties."

Delayed Glory. Something of a disappointment also awaited brilliant but unreliable Iain Macleod, still a hero of the Tory youth organizations and leader of a dedicated group of backbenchers in the Commons. Home decided to leave Macleod in the secondary role as chief Tory strategist against Labor's proposed nationalization of the steel industry. Since the Laborites are not expected to press for nationalization soon--with their three-vote margin they can scarcely expect to carry the measure--Macleod is not likely for some time to have a chance for combat or glory.

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