Synoynms for 'minister' (in a political context) that do not imply leadership of a ministry or department?

I am leading an initiative in my micronation-state (for information on micronations in general, see Wikipedia), the Republic of Glastieve (see Micronations Wiki and again), which recently launched the Second Phase Initiative (see YouTube).

Until now, the Cabinet has been composed of seven ministers who lead departments or ministries; however, from this afternoon, the ministries will be abolished and the current ministers will remain members of the Cabinet, but without specific individual portfolios.

In the process of seeking feedback from other ministers, two people have raised concerns that the term Member of Cabinet is unsatisfactory as an individual title and that it lacks the dignity or prestige associated with the title "minister." At the very worst, one of them said, this could actually make the Glastieven Government feel less like a real government and damage the Maiestas Project (maiestas meaning majesty, dignity, prestige, etc; not meaning treason).

I was wondering what term we could use instead. We could just keep on using minister, although if a word exists that we're missing it would be nice to use that instead. Thanks for reading!

Solution 1:

You can still use minister. Your ministers would simply each be a minister without portfolio:

A minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister who does not head a particular ministry. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet with decision-making authority wherein a minister without portfolio, while he or she may not head any particular office or ministry, still receives a ministerial salary and has the right to cast a vote in cabinet decisions.

This is a relatively common term used to describe ministerial positions with no specific brief.