 She also joined the parliament's Council of Elders, which – among other duties – determines daily legislative agenda items and assigning committee chairpersons based on party representation.Ahead of the 2005 state elections in Schleswig-Holstein, Peter Harry Carstensen included Flachsbarth in his shadow cabinet for the Christian Democrats' campaign to unseat incumbent Heide Simonis as Minister-President.During the campaign, she served as shadow minister for social affairs.