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An acting Prime Minister is a Cabinet member (often in a Commonwealth nation) who is serving the role of prime minister, whilst the individual who normally holds the position in unable or unwilling to do so. The role of Acting Prime Minister is often performed by the Deputy Prime Minister. The office is also commonly used when the prime minister is absent from the territory of that nation. An Acting Prime Minister should not be confused with a caretaker prime minister, which refers to an outgoing prime minister following an electoral defeat, and who by convention does not implement new policies or an Interim Prime Minister who is appointed to perform a similar role to a Caretaker Prime Minister, but who is typically not a prime minister at the time of being appointed.
Within a Commonwealth nation, the office of Acting Prime Minister, like that of Prime Minister is found only in convention, and is not legislated. The Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, or an equivalent ministry, drafts, reviews and publishes any formal conventions (though these are expressly non-binding in a court of law).