 In
1997 William Hague invited me to be one of his Opposition
Defence Spokesmen in Parliament.
That meant I was a Shadow Defence Minister.
People
often ask what that means! In our sophisticated Westminster
democracy, it has been the rule for generations that every
Government Minister is 'shadowed' by an Opposition Spokesman.
In the event of a change of government there is an alternative
Government-in-waiting, well-briefed and ready to run. Shadow
Ministers also have an important role in holding the Government
to account by questioning and probing policies and decisions.
They also formulate alternative Opposition policies on
behalf of their political party.
 In
terms of policy-making, during 1998 William Hague instituted the
'Listening to Britain' campaign. We listened to a wide range of
opinions on the subject of defence. During 1999 we established
a Defence Policy Forum consisting of military experts, academics
and Conservative politicians to advise the defence team on defence
priorities in the run-up to the next General Election and to make
recommendations about policies which could be incorporated in the
next Conservative Manifesto.
 On
a day to day basis, as a Shadow Minister, I spoke from the Despatch
Box in defence debates and confronted Ministers at Question Time
in the House of Commons. The defence team and I were ready at a
moment's notice to participate in television, radio and media programmes
and enquiries - and I did so on an almost daily basis.
The job also meant
intelligence-gathering, heavy use of the internet and its monitoring
services (including BBC monitoring services and the output from
foreign governments' defence and foreign affairs ministries).
In
addition, I kept in close touch with all three services
in this country and on active service overseas, though
I had particular responsibility for the Army. In the
UK I visited military units from Devonshire to the North
of Scotland, the Firth of Clyde to the English Channel,
Belfast to Otterburn and the major garrison towns of
Aldershot, Colchester, Catterick and Tidworth. Overseas
I have visited British troops in Germany, Kosovo, Bosnia,
Turkey, Cyprus, Kuwait, Hong Kong, The Falkland Islands
and Gibraltar.
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 Closer
to home, there are over 11,000 Ministry of Defence employees
working in my Salisbury constituency - about half of whom
are in uniform and half of whom are industrial or scientific
civil servants.
The defence procurement
industry employs about 400,000 people in the UK and I have visited
most of the British companies with major defence interests, from
Barrow in Furness to Christchurch, Stanmore to Filton, and I regularly
attended the major defence equipment exhibitions.
 The
post of Shadow Minister is unpaid. The Conservative Party forms
Her Majesty's Opposition in the House of Commons and receives modest
funding from the Government of the Day to provide professional
support functions for the democratic opposition in Parliament.
In
September 2001, the new Leader of the Conservative Party
appointed Robert Key a Shadow Minister for Trade and Industry.
Robert
visiting his local Regiment on duty in Northern Ireland,
September 2000
Rob
with the Chairman of the 2001 Munich Security Conference.
TA
Open Day in Salisbury, 2001
Foot-and-Mouth
duty in Co.Durham with CO 15(NE) Bde, July 2001
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