Source:https://www.google.co.in/webhp?hl=en#hl=en&q=opposite+number
The agriculture minister and his Labour opposite number
Is that a mistake?
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The agriculture minister and his Labour opposite number
Is that a mistake?
It is not a mistake. Many countries have a political party called the Labour Party. (Or Labor Party, in some countries.) So it has a capital L because it is a name.
The agriculture minister is a member of parliament belonging to the political party that holds the majority and is in government - from context that is not the Labour Party: most likely the Labour Party is the opposition.
So "his Labour opposite number" is the member of parliament belonging to the Labour Party who deals with agricultural issues, who most likely would become the agricultural minister if the Labour Party were to win the next election.
It is incorrect to say that a 'u' has been inserted as 'Labour' is the correct spelling throughout the english speaking world - except in North America where the 'u' was gratuitously removed around 1840. Oddly the only exception to this is in Australia where 'Labor' is used to refer to a political party despite using the form 'labour' otherwise.