Kitchen Cabinet
From Freepedia
The Kitchen Cabinet was an informal group of unofficial advisers that U.S. President Andrew Jackson consulted in place of his official Cabinet. The primary members of the Kitchen Cabinet were William B. Lewis, Amos Kendall, John Eaton and Duff Green, the editor of the United States Telegraph. After most of Jackson's cabinet resigned in the wake of the Eaton Affair the role of the Kitchen Cabinet was much diminished.
The phrase is used informally in modern times in reference to a President's closest unofficial advisers.
The term has been adopted in recent years by those in British politics as a term of abuse for the way in which British Prime Ministers (especially Tony Blair) have sidelined the traditional democratic cabinet structures to rely far more on a close group of non-elected advisors and allies. Examples of this practice include Blair's reliance on advisor Andrew Adonis before his appointment to the cabinet. Traditionally, the role of creation of education policy would have rested on the the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when formulating policy.
