Chocolate Soldier (Parliament)

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]

Chocolate Soldiers

Many Chocolate Soldiers later made a significant contribution in the public sphere. Among the assistants funded by the Rowntree Trust were:

Further reading
  • Michael Pinto-Duschinsky, British Political Finance 1830-1980, 1981, p. 197, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, ISBN 0-8447-3452-7
  • Michael Pinto-Duschinsky, "Trends in British Political Funding 1979-1983", Parliamentary Affairs, Summer 1985, Volume 38(3), p. 336, Hansard Society, ISBN 0-8447-3451-9
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References
  1. Hansard, House of Commons Debates, 4 November 1993: Tony Newton and Margaret Beckett at Column 598 and Simon Hughes at Column 606 of Volume 231.
  2. Hansard, House of Lords Debates, 9 November 1977; see Lord Houghton of Sowerby at Column 204-205 of Volume 387.
  3. Short Money Archived 2010-04-23 at the Wayback Machine, Standard Note SN/PC/1663, 11 June 2009; see pages 6-7 and footnote 22.
  4. Hansard, House of Commons Debates, 4 November 1993: Margaret Beckett at Column 601 of Volume 231.
  5. Hansard, House of Lords Debates, 7 June 2000: Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay at Column 1129 of Volume 613.
  6. The Joseph Rowntree Inheritance, 1904-2004 Archived 2011-05-18 at the Wayback Machine, p.11


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