Alfred Ghiro is a Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...

 politician.

He began his career in national politics when he was elected MP

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 for East Makira in the August 2010 general election

Solomon Islands general election, 2010

A general election was held in the Solomon Islands on 4 August 2010. In May 2010, Prime Minister Derek Sikua announced that the election would be held on 4 August, however, this announcement was deemed to be premature, as only the Governor General has the authority to announce the election date...

, standing as a candidate for the Democratic Party

Democratic Party (Solomon Islands)

The Democratic Party is a political party in Solomon Islands.In a country in which political parties tend to be small and transient, and to obtain very few seats in Parliament , the Democratic Party has played a comparatively major role in recent history....

. The Democrats obtained thirteen seats out of fifty, making them by far the largest party in the National Parliament, but their leader Steve Abana

Steve Abana

Steve William Abana is a Solomon Islands politician. He is currently Member of Parliament for Fataleka, and was the Leader of Her Majesty's Opposition from August 2010 to March 2011....

 failed to obtain the support of a parliamentary majority after the election, and thus became Leader of the Opposition

Leader of the Opposition (Solomon Islands)

The Leader of the Opposition in Solomon Islands is a Member of Parliament who commands a large minority of his peers, united in loyal opposition to government...

 to Prime Minister Danny Philip

Danny Philip

Danny Philip is a politician and diplomat from the Solomon Islands. He is the current Prime Minister, who came into office after the 2010 general election. He served as foreign minister from 1995 to 1996 and from July 2000 to June 2001...

's government. Appointing his Shadow Cabinet

Shadow Cabinet of Solomon Islands

The Shadow Cabinet of Solomon Islands is the parliamentary Opposition's alternative Cabinet in Solomon Islands. Solomon Islands is a Commonwealth realm with a Westminster system of government; the Shadow Cabinet is modelled on the British institution of the same name.The Opposition is formally...

, Abana made Ghiro Shadow Minister for Provincial Government and Institutional strengthening.

At some point, Ghiro defected to the parliamentary majority, becoming a government backbencher

Backbencher

In Westminster parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a Member of Parliament or a legislator who does not hold governmental office and is not a Front Bench spokesperson in the Opposition...

, despite being a member of the main opposition party. He subsequently defected back to the Opposition, accompanying several government ministers, on August 20, 2011. When those ministers rejoined the government the following month, he followed suit on February 21.

When Gordon Darcy Lilo replaced Philip as Prime Minister in November 2011, he appointed Ghiro as Minister for Public Service.