Party spokesperson
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A party spokesperson (also known as party spokesman or party spokeswoman) is any member of a political party (at any regional level of the party structure) who is charged by the leaders of the party with communicating the party's position on specific portfolios. Party spokespersons largely feature in political parties of parliamentary systems. Party spokespersons can also be assisted in their duties by deputy or assistant spokespersons in the same portfolio.
In Canada, non-government party spokespersons are known as party critics and deputy party critics, respectively.
Parliamentary party spokespersons
Spokespersons of a ruling party are coterminous with their roles as
Non-parliamentary party spokespersons
Non-parliamentary parties or parties with very few elected parliament members (that is, not enough to effectively spread policy communication duties) may also have their own non-parliamentary spokespersons and respective portfolios, despite not possessing speaking rights in parliament (or sometimes, as in extra-parliamentary opposition, abstaining from seeking office). They are more likely to speak for the party to media outlets or other organizations.