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UK Government and Politics > PM and Cabinet > Flashcards

PM and Cabinet Flashcards

1
Q

Who was PM in 2019?

A

Boris

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2
Q

What was Boris’ majority?

A

80

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3
Q

What was Boris’ relationship with his party?

A

Some very loyal (Rees Mogg) - back bench rebellions and vote of no confidence

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4
Q

What was Boris’ relations with Cabinet?

A

10 resignations - large use of SPADs - Cummings

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5
Q

Why did Boris resign?

A

Pincher

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6
Q

When was May PM?

A

2017-2019

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7
Q

What was her party relationship?

A

50.5% in the first ballot, 60.5% in the second

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8
Q

What was May’s style of prime ministership?

A

Presidential - dogmatic with cabinet

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9
Q

Why did May resign?

A

Brexit

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10
Q

When did Blair become PM?

A

1997

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11
Q

What was Blair’s majority?

A

177 in 1997, 165 in 2001, 64 in 2005

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12
Q

What was Blair’s style of prime ministership?

A

Sofa-government

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13
Q

Why did Blair resign?

A

Make way for Brown

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14
Q

When was Thatcher PM?

A

1979-1990

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15
Q

What was Thatcher’s majority?

A

44 in 1979, 144 in 1983 and 102 in 1987

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16
Q

What was Thatcher’s style of prime ministership?

A

Presidential af

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17
Q

Why did Thatcher resign?

A

Challenge to her leadership

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18
Q

What is collective responsibility?

A

Cabinet unable to publicly disagree with the decisions made in cabinet meetings

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19
Q

Reasons for ministerial resignations?

A

Forced resignation - bad public opinion
Incompetency
Breaking ministerial code
Scapegoat

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20
Q

When did Sir Thomas Dugdale resign?

A

1954

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21
Q

Why did Sir Thomas Dugdale resign?

A

Crichel Down Affair

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22
Q

What was the Crichel Down Affair?

A

Report criticised his department for mishandling the compulsory purchase and subsequent re-letting of 725 acres of farmland in Crichel Down.

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23
Q

When did Iain Duncan Smith resign?

A

2016

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24
Q

Why did IDS resign?

A

Cuts to the welfare budget had gone too far - cuts should come from reducing benefits for better off elders

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25
Q

Why are cabinet ministers appointed?

A

Expertise, nepotism, party support, appease opponents, ideological reasons, diversity, loyalty

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26
Q

Why was Ben Wallace made Secretary of State for Defence in 2019?

A

Military experience and friend of Boris - ran his campaign

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27
Q

Why was Suella Braverman made Home Secretary in 2022?

A

Appease the right wing of the party

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28
Q

Why is Gove a cabinet member?

A

Gets things done

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29
Q

What do ministers run?

A

Departments - have more power over policy details

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30
Q

What is a PM unlikely to do?

A

Micro-manage senior ministers.

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31
Q

Why was Gavin Williamson sacked in 2019?

A

Leaking details to the press from a National Security Council meeting.

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32
Q

Who refused to be moved?

A

Jeremy Hunt - got a promotion

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33
Q

What are cabinet meetings?

A

Debates and discussion for the PM to gauge opinions.

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34
Q

How often are cabinet meetings?

A

Once a week

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35
Q

What is a ministers biggest weapon?

A

Resignation on their own accord

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36
Q

What does much of the PM’s power depend on?

A

Circumstance and context - success brings authority, failures can cause disaster for the most self-assured prime ministers

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37
Q

What can a PM mould?

A

Cabinets of Compliance

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38
Q

What can former ministers form?

A

Internal opposition on the backbenches.

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39
Q

What is rubber stamping?

A

A formality where policy is not discussed

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40
Q

What impacts a PM’s success?

A

Party support
Cabinet ministers
PMQ performance
Parliamentary arithmetic
Leader of the Opposition
PM’s character

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41
Q

What is presidentialism?

A

The running of a country where there is an individual/ very small group is in change.
PM has a higher profile than other cabinet ministers - stands apart - started with Blair - had lots of advisors.

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42
Q

What has the role of PM morphed into?

A

Far more autocratic and towering figure

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43
Q

What was Blair’s sofa government?

A

Informal chats involving few ministers and the PM

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44
Q

Who were the Quad?

A

Cameron, Clegg, Osborne and Alexander

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45
Q

What was Thatcher criticised for?

A

Intolerant and overbearring

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46
Q

How many SPADs were in Boris’ executive?

A

108

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47
Q

What is the role of the executive?

A

Initiate and implement policy
Finance and Spending
Prerogative powers

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48
Q

Where are prerogative powers derived from?

A

The crown

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49
Q

What is the structure of the executive?

A

Prime minister, cabinet, government departments, arms length bodies

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50
Q

What does the Private Office do?

A

Administrative support - paper and information that is delivered to the PM and makes sure they are briefed on the relevant information before a cabinet meeting

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51
Q

What does the Policy unit do?

A

Gives independent policy advice and monitors government departments to make sure they are working towards the goals of the PM.

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52
Q

What does the Press Office do?

A

Work with the media and the press to make sure the media has the government’s views on various matters.

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53
Q

What does the Political Office do?

A

Manages links with the parliamentary and national government, trying to keep MPs on side.

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54
Q

What should happen in constitutional theory with policy?

A

Policy decisions should be approved by the cabinet, rather than by the Prime Minister alone.

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55
Q

What are policy decisions?

A

Binding on all government ministers

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56
Q

What is the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancatser?

A

Cabinet office - manages royal estates, lead the Cabinet Office, co-ordinate policy.

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57
Q

What can the PM create?

A

Cabinet Committees and Sub-committees - relevant cabinet ministers work together on specific policy areas.

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58
Q

Example of a Cabinet Committee under May

A

National Security Council

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59
Q

Example of a Sub-committee under May

A

Cyber Sub-committee

60
Q

What are ad hoc/ inter-ministerial groups?

A

Flexible gatherings of only a subset of a committees membership to address a specific question.

61
Q

When did inter - ministerial groups become controversial and why?

A

Under Thatcher for taking decisions that were not always referred to or approved by cabinet committees.

62
Q

What does the Cabinet Office do?

A

Supports the work of the PM and Cabinet

63
Q

How many members of staff in the Cabinet office?

A

10,000

64
Q

What does Collective Government do?

A

Coordinates the development and implementation of polices that cut across departments.

65
Q

Who are parliamentary private secretaries?

A

Unpaid advisors who are considered part of the payroll vote and are expected to vote with the government.

66
Q

How many departments are there (2021)?

A

23

67
Q

Who appoints the civil service?

A

Crown

68
Q

What do the civil service do?

A

Provide administrative and professional support to the government.

69
Q

Where do the Civil Service work?

A

Work in various government departments, agencies and non-department public bodies.

70
Q

Who is the Cabinet Secretary?

A

Most senior civil servant - runs Cabinet Office and acts as a senior advisor

71
Q

What are the Civil Service?

A

Permanent, impartial, anonymous, accountable to ministers, appointed on merit.

72
Q

How many SPADs can a Cabinet minister have?

A

2

73
Q

What are SPADs?

A

Temporary and partisan advisors, loyal to the party in government.

74
Q

Who are executive agencies?

A

Business units that are legally part of a department but have separate management.

75
Q

What do Executive Agencies do?

A

Perform specific functions services determined by the department

76
Q

Example of an Executive Agency

A

Standards and testing agency - sets tests used from early years to ks2

77
Q

What are non-departmental public bodies?

A

Established by departments but are legally separate - no civil servants. Operate at arms-length - usually to avoid political interference.

78
Q

Example of a non-departmental public body

A

Student Loan Company - administers loans to uni students.

79
Q

What is a non-ministerial department?

A

Departments headed by civil servants and board members, rather than ministers.

80
Q

What do non-ministerial departments do?

A

Have more control over policies and budgets - often accountable to parliament

81
Q

Example of a non-ministerial department?

A

Ofsted - inspects and regulates schools.

82
Q

How many civil servants are there

A

Over 468,000

83
Q

How many paid ministers are there?

A

109

84
Q

How many agencies are there?

A

414

85
Q

How many non-ministerial departments are there?

A

20

86
Q

Where is most policy made?

A

Government departments

87
Q

What do ministers use to test the waters of policies?

A

Paper Stage

88
Q

Who do ministers get help from?

A

SPADs, civil servants and lobbyists

89
Q

What are the prerogative powers?

A

Appoint and dismiss ministers
Make Treaties
Declare war/ deploy military
issue and withdraw passports

90
Q

Example of Prerogative powers being used

A

2018 Air Strike on Syria

91
Q

What power does the PM have?

A

Power of Patronage

92
Q

Benefit of having a balanced cabinet?

A

Keep all sections of the party happy

93
Q

Benefit of not having a balanced cabinet?

A

Easier to control - Blair and Thatcher did this

94
Q

Who was silenced by being a member of cabinet?

A

Boris and Milliband

95
Q

Who did Brown promote (close friend)?

A

Ed Balls

96
Q

Who represented Brexiteers in May’s cabinet?

A

David Davies

97
Q

Who represented Old Labour in Blair’s cabinet?

A

John Prescott

98
Q

Who had experience in May and Johnson’s cabinets?

A

Sajid Javid

99
Q

Who had expertise in Brown’s government?

A

Yvette Cooper

100
Q

Who was simply too good to leave out of Brown’s government?

A

Peter Mandelson

101
Q

How has prime ministership changed?

A

Become more presidential - Thatcher, Blair, Brown, Cameron, May and Johnson have all tried to be presidential - a variety of successes on that front.

102
Q

When did Boris Johnson resign as Foreign secretary?

A

2018

103
Q

Why did Boris Johnson resign?

A

Disagreed with May’s Brexit deals - collective responsibility

104
Q

Why did Robin Cook resign?

A

Disagreed with the Iraq war - collective responsibility

105
Q

When did Cook resign?

A

2003

106
Q

When did Amber Rudd resign?

A

2018

107
Q

Why did Rudd resign?

A

Lied to a Select Committee about targets for the number of illegal immigrants removed from the UK - departmental/personal

108
Q

Why did Andrew Mitchell resign?

A

Insulting a policeman at Downing Street – swearing and calling policeman a ‘pleb’ - personal

109
Q

When did Mitchell resign?

A

2012

110
Q

When did Mandelson resign?

A

2001

111
Q

Why did Mandelson resign?

A

Used influence to obtain a British passport for Hinduja brothers (very rich Indian businessmen)

112
Q

What is cabinet government?

A

Cabinet being the main policy making body

113
Q

What is cabinet government described as by Bagehot?

A

Constitutional Model

114
Q

What is the PM in a cabinet model?

A

Primus inter pares

115
Q

Examples of Cabinet Government

A

Demise of Thatcher in the 1990s due to Howe
May and her issues with Brexit

116
Q

What is prime ministerial government?

A

Cabinet is dominated by the PM - PM is the predominant figure with the core executive

117
Q

What has caused the rise of prime ministerial government?

A

Rise of strong, disciplined parties
Creation of the civil service
Growth in power and scale of big government
Media leading to personality politics

118
Q

What is the core executive model?

A

Power is shared between key players who are mutually dependent

119
Q

Who are the main actors in an executive model?

A

Senior civil servants, ministers and the prime minister

120
Q

What is the British Presidency?

A

Michael Foley - Blair and Thatcher more like presidents - use advisors more than cabinet colleagues in decision making

121
Q

What is the compromise model?

A

Argues that the nature of UK government is dependent

122
Q

What are the three factors dictating the model of UK government?

A

Style of PM
Circumstance
Party

123
Q

What is civil service permanence?

A

Civil servants serve whoever is in power. After the next election, the head of the Civil Service, the Cabinet Secretary, will serve whoever is prime minister and give him or her advice.

124
Q

What is civil service neutrality?

A

Civil servants must not allow their own political beliefs or bias to inform the advice they give

125
Q

What is civil service anonymity?

A

Their advice is confidential. Ministers are to blame if things go wrong. They must not speak to the media about their conversations with ministers.

126
Q

What is meritocracy?

A

They are not political appointments and are appointed on merit through competitive exams and interviews.

127
Q

Who was the first PM?

A

Robert Walpole

128
Q

What does primus inter pares mean?

A

First among equals

129
Q

What does the PM have to make policy?

A

Mandate - carries the authority to govern through winning elections

130
Q

What is a popular mandate?

A

Electorate votes for MP - but party leader has an increasing influence - can claim to have a popular mandate

131
Q

Who has a weak mandate?

A

Those who take office between elections - Gordon Brown

132
Q

Who is leader of parliament?

A

Prime Minister - can claim authority in the House of Commons

133
Q

How many ministers did Macmillan fire in 1962?

A

24

134
Q

How many SPADs did Major have?

A

8

135
Q

How many SPADs did Blair have?

A

50

136
Q

Who is Commander and Chief of the Armed Forces?

A

PM

137
Q

What did Cameron enforce?

A

No Fly Zone in Libya 2011

138
Q

What is a bilateral meeting?

A

Meetings between two people, usually used to refer to meetings between the prime minister and a particular government minister

139
Q

What is bureaucracy?

A

A term meaning ‘rule by officials’, often used to refer to the civil servants who implement government policy

140
Q

What is a kitchen Cabinet?

A

Term used to describe small, informal meetings between the Prime Minister and select ministers, advisors and officials

141
Q

What is Open Government?

A

The idea that the working of government should be made more transparent. and easier for parliament and the public to see and scrutinise

142
Q

What are Osmotherly Rules?

A

Civil service guidelines, limiting the evidence they give to select committees, designed to protect their impartiality, anonymity, and confidentiality

143
Q

What is a Parliamentary Under-secretary

A

Government ministers who are junior to ministers and are not members of cabinet

144
Q

What is the Permanent Under-secretary of state

A

The most senior civil servant within a government department, responsible for running the department on a
day-to-day basis

145
Q

What is Spatial Leadership?

A

Theory by Michael Floey - PMs put distance between themselves and the party to gain supprt.

UK Government and Politics (10 decks)

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