Prime Minister and the Executive Flashcards
(6 cards)
What is the difference between individual and collective ministerial responsibility?
Individual - minister is accountable for the actions and performance of their own department as well as their personal life, if they fail to do so they should resign
Collective - Constitutional convention whereby ministers should maintain a united front for the party until decisions have been reached
Examples of individual ministerial responsibility
- Amber Rudd resigned as Home secretary after she misled the Home Affairs Committee over department’s targets for deporting illegal immigrants in 2018
- Liam Fox resigned as Defence Secretary after he brought a close friend of his to 18 foreign business trips despite him having no official role
- Louise Haigh resigned due to previous conviction in 2024
Examples of collective responsibility significance
-July 2018, David Davis resigned as Secretary of State for exiting the european union as may’s decision to purue closer ties with the EU was a “step too far”
-In 2022, 10 members of BJ’s government resigned after his partygate scandal which pressured him to resign as PM
- 2025 Anneliese Dodds resigned from Keir Starmer’s gov over its decrease in foreign aid spending from 0.5% to 0.3% in favour of defence
Examples of collective responsibility insignificance
When BJ was foreign secretary in Theresa May’s government, he consistenly leaked dissatisfaction with government policy. He also wrote critical weekly articles but due to his popularity in the Conservative party, especially amongst brexiteers, she wasn’t able to sack him.
Example of patronage
Boris Johnson appointed Dominic Cummings as chief advisor in July 2019 due to the same view on the EU (VoteLeave campaign)
Examples that the PM doesn’t dominate cabinet
Rishi Sunak backtracked plan to restrict graduate visas after cabinet opposition from James Cleverly, Jeremy Hunt, and David Cameron - after fierce backlash saying that driving away foreign students could hit growth policy
