A Chocolate Soldier was a Parliamentary assistant for an opposition front bench spokesman in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom in the early 1970s, funded by the Joseph Rowntree Social Service Trust, which was endowed by the chocolate entrepreneur Joseph Rowntree. [1]
The scheme was a pilot project to assist the opposition to carry out parliamentary duties and counteract the advantage that government ministers enjoy through briefings from civil servants, and was instigated by the trust's secretary, Pratap Chitnis. [2] In 1974, the scheme was given official parliamentary support through the provision of Short Money to opposition parties, announced by Edward Short on 29 July 1974. [3]
The Rowntree Trust made a similar fund available to the opposition in the late 1980s, to assist with travel expenses. This funding ceased in 1992, after the provision of Short Money was expanded to add a travel element. [4]
Many Chocolate Soldiers later made a significant contribution in the public sphere. Among the assistants funded by the Rowntree Trust were:
The Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949 are two Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which form part of the constitution of the United Kingdom. Section 2(2) of the Parliament Act 1949 provides that the two Acts are to be construed as one.
In England, a City Technology College (CTC) is an urban all-ability specialist school for students aged 11 to 18 specialising in science, technology and mathematics. They charge no fees and are independent of local authority control, being overseen directly by the Department for Education. One fifth of the capital costs are met by private business sponsors, who also own or lease the buildings. The rest of the capital costs, and all running costs, are met by the Department.
Archibald Johnstone Kirkwood, Baron Kirkwood of Kirkhope,, is a British Liberal Democrat politician.
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Chocolate Soldier is an expression referring to a good-looking but useless warrior, popularised by George Bernard Shaw's 1894 play Arms and the Man. The term originates as a derogatory label for a soldier who would not fight but would look good in a uniform, shortened from 'Chocolate Cream Soldier'.
"Do you agree, Mr. Clay," she asked, "or do you prefer the chocolate-cream soldiers, in red coats and gold lace?"
(from: Soldier of Fortune by Richard Harding Davis. 1897)
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