Political Loyalty Is The Most Important Factor Governing The Prime Minister’s Selection Of Ministers. Flashcards
(7 cards)
Paragraph One ➡️ Political Loyalty vs Ideological Balance
FOR-
In his 2020 cabinet reshuffle Boris Johnson sacked Northern Ireland secretary Julian Smith and
replaced him with ally Brandon Smith, as Julian Smith had spoken out against a no deal Brexit.
This was despite Julian Smith being a very effective Northern Ireland Secretary who had
successfully restored the Northern Ireland Assembly and was well liked.
Loyalty and political reliability played a major role in Starmer’s selection of his first cabinet, the
vast majority of whom had served in the same shadow cabinet positions for a number of years.
- Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden in particular
are key allies. - Loyalty was also a major factor in Liz Truss’ selection of her cabinet, almost all of whom had
supported her in her leadership campaign.
Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng was a key political ally who was made Chancellor despite
having very limited experience in government.
Paragraph One ➡️ Political Loyalty vs Ideological Balance
AGAINST-
Prime Ministers must balance rewarding allies with maintaining party unity by selecting a cabinet representing different party factions. This helps keep opponents inside the cabinet bound by collective responsibility, preventing public dissent.
For example, Theresa May balanced Brexiteers (Boris Johnson, David Davis) and Remainers (Philip Hammond, Jeremy Hunt). After leadership contests, PMs often offer cabinet roles to former rivals, like Boris Johnson did with Matt Hancock, Michael Gove, Dominic Raab, and Sajid Javid.
Counterpoint: Recently, popular PMs with large majorities have prioritized loyalty over ideological balance. Boris Johnson’s first cabinet favored Brexiteers, including Home Secretary Priti Patel and Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab. Liz Truss excluded Rishi Sunak after defeating him, and Starmer’s first cabinet excludes Labour’s left wing, with Angela Rayner as the closest left-leaning member.
Paragraph Two ➡️ Competence and Experience vs Political
Loyalty
AGAINST -
A key factor Prime Ministers consider when selecting their ministers is the individual competence and experience of those appointed. Running a large and complex government department is a challenging task, and Prime Ministers need to be confident that their ministers possess the specialist knowledge and skills necessary to manage their portfolios effectively. Additionally, being an effective communicator in the media is important, as Prime Ministers want to avoid ministers embarrassing the government or poorly defending government policies.
A notable example of this focus on competence is Jeremy Hunt’s appointment as Chancellor by both Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak. Hunt’s nine years of cabinet experience since 2010 made him a “safe pair of hands,” especially following the sacking of Kwasi Kwarteng, and this was a key reason why Sunak retained him after replacing Truss.
Other strong examples include Rachel Reeves being appointed Chancellor, Yvette Cooper as Home Secretary, and James Timpson as Prisons Minister under Starmer’s leadership. Reeves brought valuable experience, having served as Shadow Chancellor for three years and previously worked at the Bank of England. Cooper stands out as one of the few Labour MPs with significant government experience, having served as a minister under both Blair and Brown. Timpson, made a peer specifically to become Prisons Minister, brings a unique perspective, with 10% of his company’s workforce being former prisoners and a long-standing reputation as a rehabilitation campaigner.
Prime Ministers also often consider the future potential of MPs when appointing junior ministers, seeing this as a way to secure the party’s strength and stability in the long term. For example, Liz Truss was made a junior minister by David Cameron in 2012 and progressed steadily through cabinet roles, positioning her for eventual leadership and the premiership.
Paragraph Two ➡️ Competence and Experience vs Political
Loyalty
FOR-
On the other hand, it can be argued that loyalty and political alignment is a more important
factor, as recent Prime Ministers have sometimes selected ministers who have limited experience, yet belong to the same wing of the party.
- A number of incompetent ministers have also been selected, such as Chris Grayling who was nicknamed ‘Failing Grayling’ due to his ineptitude as a minister, which included granting a ferry contract to a company with no ferries when Secretary of State for Transport.
- Liz Truss, for example, appointed Kwasi Kwarteng and James Cleverly to important roles, both
of whom had limited experience in government. - Her cabinet was the least experienced in modern history, with the average secretary of state having just 17 months of top level ministerial
experience. - Kwarteng was made Chancellor despite having served in the cabinet for less than 2 years.
Paragraph Three ➡️ Direct Representation and Diversity vs
Political Loyalty
AGAINST -
Especially in recent years, Prime Ministers have found it important to ensure their cabinets are
somewhat representative of the population in terms of gender and ethnicity in particular.
- Blair appointed Margaret Becket as Britain’s first female Foreign Secretary and Brown appointed Jacqui Smith as the first female Home Secretary.
- Boris Johnson’s December cabinet was very representative in terms of ethnic minorities, with 6 ethnic minority members of cabinet, two of whom (Sunak and Patel) were in the key offices of
state. - 11/21 members of Starmer’s first cabinet are women including the first female Chancellor,
though just 3 members are from an ethnic minority background, a drop from Sunak and
Johnson’s cabinets.
Paragraph Three ➡️ Direct Representation and Diversity vs
Political Loyalty
FOR-
- There are clearly limits to how much importance Prime Ministers place on diversity when
selecting their ministers, particularly in relation to gender. Politics, parliament and the
government continues to be largely dominated by white men. - The coalition was criticised for its lack of gender balance with only 4 women in its first
cabinet. - Though Prime Ministers do likely consider diversity in their selection of ministers, factors such
as political loyalty and individual competence/experience are arguably more important, as they
are key factors in enabling the Prime Minister to maintain their power and control.
CONCLUSION-
In conclusion, political loyalty is not the most important factor governing the Prime Minister’s
selection of ministers. Though it is certainly an important consideration and was arguably the
most important factor for Liz Truss who appointed multiple inexperienced allies, individual
competence and experience was more important for Prime Ministers before and after Truss.
Prime Ministers need to be confident that ministers have the experience and ability necessary
to run their departments effectively, in order to avoid embarrassing the government.
