Political --> Ministerial Responsibility - Collective Flashcards
(48 cards)
what are the two types of ministerial responsibility
-collective
-individual
who owes collective MR and to who
-responsibility of the gov to Parliament
-responsibility of members of government to each other and the PM
what is the legal authority for collective responsibility
Ministerial Code (2024) para 1.6(a)
who owes individual MR and to who
-responsibility of ministers for their own personal conduct and for acts of department and civil servants
what is the legal authority for individual MR
-Ministerial Code (2024) para 1.1-1.3
describe the nature of ministerial responsibility (5)
- significant tp parliamentary democracy
-Parliament is central to constitution as gov must answer to Parl
-non legal, conventional rules but still binding
-enforced via political pressure
-consequences not uniform but ultimate sanction is resignation
-ministers still subject to the law eg R v Chaytor
what happened in the case of R v Chaytor and what principle came from it
-after 2009 expenses scandal
-ministers technically claimed expenses as part of their political role but SC rejected as MPs can commit fraud
broadly describe the ministerial code
-written by PM (since 1992)
-sets out stabdard if conduct expected of ministers
what are the 4 key questions to consider for MR
-how well do these conventions work
-do they really produce responsible gov?
-what should we expect from ministers, and how should the constitution control them?
-is the problem that politics isnt a constraint, or that we have a flawed political system?
what are Marshall’s 3 principles/rules for collective responsibility
-confidence
-unanimity
-confidentiality
who defined the 3 principles/rules for collective responsibility
-G.Marshall in Cinstitutional Conventions
explain Marshall’s ‘confidence’ principle for collective MR
-gov formed on basis of majority in HoC
-gov sustained by collectively retaining the confidence of the HoC
-sometimes deals with other parties to form ‘minority govs’ eg Theresa May 2017 with DUP
give an example of a minority gov
-Theresa May 2017 with DUP
-she lost election so had to make deal to retain HoC’s confidence
what is Theresa May 2017 with DUP an example of
-a ‘minority gov’ (to retain the confidence of the HoCommons to be ‘the gov’
how did confidence of HoC in gov used to be tested (old rules)
-if gov loses HoC’s confidence they are designated a “Vote of No Confidence”
-they must either (i) resign (Baldwin, 1924) or (ii) seek dissolution of Parliament (McDonald 1924, Callaghan 1979)
what are one of the 2 things that must be done if there is a vote of no confidene
(i) resignation (Baldwin 1924)
(ii) seek dissolution of Parliament (McDonald 1924, Callaghan, 1979)
what is the authority for a vote of no confidence in HoC resulting in a resignation
-dissolution of Baldwin gov 1924
what is Baldwin 1924 an authority for?
a vote of no confidence in HoC resulting in a resignation
what is the authority for a vote of no confidence in HoC resulting in seeking the dissolution of Parliament
dissolution of McDonald gov 1924; and Callaghan 1979
what is McDonald 1924; Callaghan 1979 an authority for
a vote of no confidence in HoC resulting in seeking the dissolution of Parliament
give 2 examples of govs that did not lose the Vote of No Confidence when voted on
-2019 Theresa May
-2022 Boris Johnson
what changed the old rules for determining HoC confidence in gov
-Fixed-Term Parliaments Act 2011
what did the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 change
-brought in fixed rules for the length of a Parliament
-intended for no general elections to be held as gov would serve for fixed term
did the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 change much practically
-practically, no as general elections didnt really stop when givs were in trouble
-eg 2017 Theresa May won 2/3 vote to get an early election
-eg 2019 BoJo had one off legislation setting asude FTPA for an election
