PM And Cabinet

Question 1

What is the executive?

Answer 1

• branch of gov responsible for implementation of laws/policies made by Parliament
• main powers - patronage powers; deployment of armed forces; relations w/international powers/international diplomacy; making/ratifying treaties; organisation/structure of civil service; issuing directives/statements during national emergency.

Question 2

What is the political executive?

Answer 2

• gov of day; composed of ministers; job is to take overall responsibility for direction/coordination of gov policy.

Question 3

What is the official executive?

Answer 3

• The bureaucracy - administrative machinery of gov; rule by officials.
• composed of senior civil servants; provides policy advice/implementation of gov policy.

Question 4

What is presidentialism?

Answer 4

• tendency for political leaders to act increasingly like executive presidents, through rise of personal leadership

Question 5

What is the Cabinet?

Answer 5

• committee of leading ministers; empowered to make official gov policy

Question 6

What does ‘primus inter pares’ mean?

Answer 6

• first among equals; PM in sense that they are primary representative of gov, in relation to monarch and through right to be consulted about significant policy issues.
• suggests all members of cabinet have equal influence.

Question 7

What is the core executive?

Answer 7

• informal network at centre of gov; key roles - making policy, passing legislation, financing, being national first responder.
• main bodies/actors within - PM; leading members of PM’s Office/other close advisors; cabinet; main cabinet committees/leading figures within Cabinet Office etc

Question 8

What is the inner cabinet?

Answer 8

• group of very senior ministers close to PM; can control cabinet by determining policy amongst themselves

Question 9

What is sofa government?

Answer 9

• associated with Blair’s style; made key decisions with unofficial advisory group, bypassing cabinet

Question 10

What is a think tank?

Answer 10

• develops policy proposals/campaigns for their acceptance amongst gov/policy-makers.

Question 11

What are political advisors?

Answer 11

• work in supporting role to gov; political appointees who are loyal to governing parties, even particular ministers.

Question 12

Deputy prime minister?

Answer 12

• senior cabinet minister who acts for PM in their absence
• not official; not permanent; no set responsibilities

Question 13

What is a kitchen cabinet?

Answer 13

• loose/informal group of policy advisors consulted by PM outside formal cabinet.

Question 14

What is collective ministerial responsibility?

Answer 14

• convention; defines relationships between executive/Parliament, ministers/cabinet
• two main features - implies gov accountable to parliament (rests on confidence of HoC); implies all ministers obliged to support official gov policy in public/parliament

Question 15

What is the definition of a minister?

Answer 15

• run gov departments, make policy, oversee work of civil servants.
• appointed by PM.

Question 16

What are civil servants?

Answer 16

• appointed gov officials; provide policy advice/implement gov policy.
• politically neutral, permanent, accountable to minister.

Question 17

What is individual ministerial responsibility?

Answer 17

• convention that defines relationship between ministers/their departments.
• two main features - implies ministers accountable to Parliament for policies/actions of their departments; civil servants accountable to their ministers.

Question 18

What is cabinet government?

Answer 18

• three central features - fusion of executive/legislative branches as its members head government, also drawn from/accountable to Parliament; controls policy-making process/makes all major gov decisions; policy made democratically with each member’s view carrying equal weight.

Question 19

What are secretaries of state?

Answer 19

• cabinet ministers in charge of gov department

Question 20

What are ministers of state?

Answer 20

• junior to secretaries; MPs not usually in cabinet

Question 21

What are parliamentary under-secretaries of state?

Answer 21

• junior to ministers of state; not members of cabinet but may serve on cabinet committees.

Question 22

What are parliamentary private secretaries?

Answer 22

• unpaid; help the government track backbench opinion; not officially members of gov

Question 23

What is the cabinet office?

Answer 23

• body that services cabinet system through cabinet secretariat; responsible for coordinating policy across Whitehall departments/ensuring policy delivery.

Question 24

What is the cabinet secretary?

Answer 24

• most senior civil servant

Question 25

What is the cabinet secretariat?

Answer 25

• non-departmental; sits in cabinet office, serves PM/ministers who chair committees; cabinet secretary is head of cabinet secretariat.

Question 26

What is the prime minister’s office?

Answer 26

• collection of senior officials/political advisors; advise about policy/implementation, communication, party management, gov relations

Question 27

What is meant by patronage?

Answer 27

• granting of favours/privileges; usually involves control over jobs/appointments

Question 28

How is policy made?

Answer 28

• manifesto pledges/promises - extending free childcare; conservatives 2017.
• personal conviction of PM - privatisation/sale of council houses by Thatcher; wanted to roll back/shrink state.
• outcome of referendum - Brexit
• results of deals w/minority/other coalition parties - 2011 AV referendum
• responses to national crises/emergencies - coronavirus; initially slow; had to be quick.
• mounting pressure from media/public - climate change policy; PGs like XR/climate strikes; 2019 - pledged net zero by 2050.
• changing social/cultural attitudes - 1960s/liberalisation of public attitudes; Wilson -> legalised abortion up to 24 weeks, decriminalised male homosexuality.

Question 29

Why do ministers resign?

Answer 29

• accepting blame for error/injustice within their department - 1954 Crichel Down affair; Dugdale resigned as minister of agriculture taking blame for civil service mistakes/inefficiency.
• unwillingness to accept collective responsibility over policy - Robin Cook/Iraq War; suggested that GB work with European partners/UN.
• inability to deliver policy promise in department - Tracey Crouch; delays on maximum stakes for fixed-odds betting machines; pushing back could cost lives of problem gamblers.
• personal misconduct - Damian Green, broke honesty principle; Priti Patel/failed to be honest about unauthorised meetings with 14 Israeli ministers, breaking ministerial code.
• political pressure - Andrew Mitchell/Plebgate; used derogatory term against public servant; Cameron cabinet already had reputation for being out of touch.

Question 30

What are the main powers of the executive?

Answer 30

• appt/dismissal of ministers by PM/other patronage powers.
• deployment of armed forces overseas.
• relations with international powers/international diplomacy.
• making/ratifying treaties.
• organisation/structure of civil service.
• issuing directives/statements during national crises.

Question 31

What’s an example of PM in national crisis?

Answer 31

• during Covid - instructed people to stay at home with a few exceptions; for guidelines to have any force, eg fines, parliament had to pass Coronavirus Act 2020.
• Act passed swiftly; all parliamentary stages but without full debate/scrutiny.

Question 32

How significant are the prerogative powers of the executive?

Answer 32

Significant:
- opportunity to deploy armed forces; UK govs not formally required to seek parliamentary approval for action of additional funding.
- enjoy unlimited choice over who joins/leaves gov; no approval needed; presence of Lords means PM can select ministers who lack democratic mandate.
- PM delivers broadcasts, speeches, messages to ppl during crisis; 27m ppl estimated to have watched message about national lockdown.
Less significant:
- by convention, all recent military action overseas has been put before a vote; Gulf Wars, air strikes on Syria/Iraq.
- PM constrained in choice of ministers; must appoint cabinet w/diversity, broad spectrum of governing party; May had to include Remainers and Brexiteers.
- must rely on parliament to pass relavent legislation such as anti-terror laws; opposition quick to critique/monitor response to emergencies.
- Brexit showed how limited prerogative powers can be; SC ruling forced PM to submit any deal before parliament.

Question 33

How far has the role of PM changed in recent times?

Answer 33

Greatly:
- several recents PMs eg Thatcher/Blair have been accused of running more presidential style of leadership; claimed they frequently bypassed full cabinet meetings/discussions; sofa gov.
- growth in use of SpAds at expense of seeking policy advice from civil service; BJ - 108.
- development of social media has resulted in growing focus on personality/style of individuals rather than wider cabinet; televised leaders’ debates.
- increased media scrutiny/opportunities have led PMs to focus on popular media/take message directly to ppl, appearing on soft format TV chat shows.
Barely:
- no formal changes in powers; some powers have been reduced including easily calling fresh GE.
- predominant premierships of Thatcher/Blair should be assessed alongside more imperilled ones.
- influence of SpAds exaggerated; importance of more traditional sources eg civil service; when devising gov response to Covid, most powerful advice cam from medical experts eg Chris Whitty.
- image-aware PMs aren’t likely to portray selves as sole/star player; during Covid, Johnson often appeared at media briefings with chief scientific adviser Patrick Vallance.

Question 34

What are the institutional powers of PM?

Answer 34

• appointing/dismissing ministers; cabinet reshuffles.
• chairing weekly meetings of cabinet/setting agenda.
• arranging/sometimes chairing cabinet committees.
• dictating policy priorities.
• Cabinet Office.
• usually being able to command HoC majority to pass legislation.
• issuing honours eg life peerages

Question 35

What are the personal/political powers of PM?

Answer 35

• momentum/political capital that comes from leading party to victory; enables them to persuade/lead more effectively.
• effective management of colleagues in cabinet/backbenches.
• personal qualities as effective communicator/national leader.
• ability to unite/rally own party.
• skill in managing economy/handling unexpected challenges.

Question 36

What circumstances determine PM’s powers?

Answer 36

• opinion poll ratings/results of more recent elections eg by-elections/local council elections.
• personalities in cabinet/party at the time.
• potential leadership challenges.
• strength/threat posed by main opposition party.

Question 37

How powerful are patronage powers?

Answer 37

• initially very; can hire/fire as they please; quite personal -> May removed 15 minsters when taking over.
• PM needs to be careful to maintain balance in terms of both diversity/policy positions; May had to include Remainers and Brexiteers; Blair had to include influential Brown alongside John Prescott, whose style/background complemented leader.
• must be careful of who/how many they sack; ex-minister on backbenches can be damaging eg Thatcher’s demotion/resignation of former foreign secretary George Howe resulted in leadership challenge of Heseltine.
• too many reshuffles -> weak.
• coalition gov brings own contraints on powers of appointment; Cameron ceded patronage power of five cabinet-ranking posts.

Question 38

How much authority do PMs have over cabinet?

Answer 38

• dictate when/where it meets eg Sunderland on 31 Jan 2020.
• decide agenda/chair proceedings.
• cabinet is formal decision-making body; all ministers required to support cabinet decisions (collective responsibility).
• agreement never automatic; much depends on personalities, issues, political context; Blair never able to persuade chancellor Brown to support UK adopting euro.
• although meetings meant to be private, modern PMs often deal with problem of leaking; Johnson issued new edition of Ministerial Code.

Question 39

How does PM use cabinet committees?

Answer 39

• most decisions made by full cabinet have effectively been decided in advance by committees; take decisions on specific policy areas.
• effectiveness largely down to individual ministers/PM eg implementation committees set up under Johnson created Climate Change Committee; committed to achieving net zero by 2050.
• Blair had large number, but preferred ad hoc meetings.
• under May - degree of inconsistency; initially slimmed down no. of committees to 5 main/10 sub; chaired every committee March 2017, but election result undermined power.

Question 40

How do PMs dictate policy priorities?

Answer 40

• PMs w/strong majorities and mandates especially able to exert influence; Thatcher able to carry out major programme of privatisation/reduce TU power; Blair able to modernise aspects of Constitution/show departure from traditional socialist past.
• often bound by manifesto pledges/constrained by unfolding developments; Cameron/Brexit.

Question 41

What is the Cabinet Office/how is it used?

Answer 41

• provide support for cabinet system; around 2050 civil servants; ensure running of government.
• effectively corporate HQ for central government; takes lead in certain policy areas; administrative support; coordinates between departments.
• individual PMs tweak priorities/roles to reflect issues; during pandemic, Rapid Response Unit created to deal with misinformation.

Question 42

How does PM’s role as party leader affect them?

Answer 42

• additional resources; guarantees policies/legislation gets through parliament.
• leader elected by their MPs/party members -> strong degree of legitimacy.
• party loyalty conditional not absolute; Thatcher forced out by own MPs.
• party can influence leader’s policy; Conservative rebellions over Europe led Cameron to promise in/out referendum on continued EU membership.

Question 43

How do PMs dispense honours?

Answer 43

• can award life peerages to former MPs/party supporters; used to alter balance of HoL for party advantage.
• Blair/Brown made total of 173 Labour peers, only 66 Tory nominations; Cameron/May - 136 Tory life peers, only 59 Labour.
• source of controversy; should be non-political.
• several generous donors to Tory funds have been rewarded; includes Andrew Cook who have more than £1m.

Question 44

How are personal/political powers used?

Answer 44

• most important is to gain political capital; enhanced when PMs get it right with high-risk policy; wise/good judgement crucial to be influential.
• 1982 - undertaking of military operation to retake Falkland Islands; victory credited with contributing to landslide victory for Thatcher in 1983; boosted authority.
• 2014 - Cameron agreed to vote on Scottish Independence; actively campaigned for it to remain/put authority on the line.

Question 45

What are the powers/resources of the cabinet?

Answer 45

• most ministers run own departments, so have degree of autonomy over policy details; PMs can set tone/clarify expectation but rarely get involved in policy minutiae eg organising 2012 London Olympics.
• can have own links to media/PGs; can leak info eg defence secretary Gavin Williamson sacked for allegedly leaking to press details from National Security Council meeting.
• powerful ministers can refuse to be moved in reshuffle; 2018 - health secretary Jeremy Hunt refused to be moved and ended up with enhanced role.
• meetings can involve real debate/discussion; PMs use as sounding boards before committing.
• resignation of own accord; large numbers of ministers resigning implies weak/divided gov; May had 35.

Question 46

Does cabinet government still exist?

Answer 46

YES:
- remains key forum for high-level policy decisions.
- cabinet can still influence policy/prove useful to PM to take soundings and promote more coordinated approach to policy.
- senior/influential ministers can be hard to remove.
- too many cabinet resignations can be sign of weakness not strength; former ministers can be focus for internal opposition.
- gov departments contain own senior civil servants who provide policy support/expertise; also have own political advisers.
NO:
- many decisions made at cabinet committee level/in bilateral meetings.
- many meetings brief; used more to resolve/arbitrate disputes between departments.
- ministers appointed by PM/must do their bidding; can easily be removed.
- PMs can appear strong/decisive by removing opponents.
- Cabinet Office/special advisers play increasing role in providing research/policy advice across departments; can bypass formal cabinet structure.

Question 47

Is the executive largely unaccountable to parliament?

Answer 47

YES:
- answers in parliament esp PMQs often favour style over substance; can avoid difficult questions.
- principles can be open to interpretation; ministers often claim they were unaware of an error; if they have backing of PM, they are unlikely to resign.
- select committees have relatively little power; an unconvincing/evasive performance is no guarantee of dismissal.
- generally, party loyalty is guaranteed; party discipline, desire to prevent opponents gaining ground.
NO:
- ministers subject to regular grilling at ministerial questions/PMQs; televised.
- all members of executive must follow principles on standards expected in public life as set out in Ministerial Code.
- ministers appear before select committees/must be honest and truthful; Johnson/Partygate.
- PM must retain support of parliamentary party; PM’s position can be threatened.