The PM and the Cabinet Flashcards
(8 cards)
What is the cabinet?
The Cabinet is the formal decision making body in the UK government. It consists of 22 senior members of the government. Each member is chosen by the Prime Minister to lead a specific policy areas, including: health, defense, foreign affairs etc.
The Cabinet ministers meet each week to discuss current affairs and issues that concern the government.
What are the PM’s patronage powers over the Cabinet?
. PMs can hire and dismiss cabinet ministers without the approval of anyone else, and as soon as they get into government they often radically change the cabinet however they please - for example, when replacing Cameron in 2016, May removed 15 ministers and in 2019, Johnson replaced 11.
. PMs must be careful to keep a balanced Cabinet - concerning policy positions as well as ethnic and gender diversity - May included Leave and Remain supporters in her Cabinet.
. PMs also have to be cautious about who and how many cabinet ministers they sack, as an ex-minister becoming a backbench MP can be dangerous.
What are Cabinet meetings like?
. PMs decide when and where the Cabinet meets weekly, while also choosing what the agenda is.
. These meetings are private, and so official records are not released to the public until 30 years later. Sometimes, disgruntled Ministers may leak discussions that have been had in the meetings to the media, with their identity a secret. As PM, Johnson issued a new edition of the Ministerial Code, stating that there must be ‘no leaking’.
. All Ministers have to support Cabinet decisions - called ‘collective responsibility’ - meaning that any Minister that cannot support the decision must resign from government. However, unilateral agreements within the Cabinet are never automatic, sometimes resulting in rows and arguments.
What is the Cabinet Office?
. Created in 1916, the Cabinet Office is there to provide support for the Cabinet system.
. It takes the lead in certain policy areas, coordinates work between departments and provides administrative support such as taking minutes of meetings.
. The Cabinet Office published the ‘Cabinet Manual’ in 2010, which ‘sets out the main laws, rules and conventions affecting the conduct and operation of government’.
What powers does the Cabinet have?
Some departments are more prestigious than others, in the past, posts like agriculture or Northern Ireland were seen as places of ‘political banishment’. However, Cabinet Ministers aren’t powerless in any post, they have powers that include:
. Running their own departments, therefore having autonomy over policy details.
. They have media links and links to pressure groups - and in extreme cases can leak information to journalists.
. They can resign of their own accord, an act which implies a weak and divided government.
. Cabinet meetings involve real debate so PMs can use them to listen to the opinions of ministers and reflect on them before committing to a major policy initiative.
What roles does the PM have?
.To appoint government ministers to a cabinet.
.To direct and influence government policy- this includes all areas of policy but is usually focused on the main areas of economics and foreign policy.
.To manage the cabinet, for example deciding when and how long to meet for and setting the agenda for discussion.
.To organise the government, for example, government departments and how they are set up.
.To control Parliament (by having a majority in the Commons).
.To provide leadership, for example in response to major events.
What are the arguments that the PM presidential?
.The media concentrate more on the PM as government spokesperson.
.The greater concentration on presentation of policy.
.The greater importance of the ‘presidential’ role in terms of foreign policy, military issues, global conferences and so on.
.The growth of the Downing Street ‘machine’, looking increasingly like an ‘executive office of the president’.
.Spatial leadership issues- the PM developing a personal policy agenda, separate from their parties.
.The increased use of special advisers personally loyal to the PM.
.The personality of some prime ministers, notably Blair, Cameron.
What are the arguments that the PM is not presidential?
.Prime ministers are not heads of state constitutionally.
.They are limited by party, cabinet and parliament- it is much easier for them to be removed than it is for a president.
.PMs can be removed from office in mid-term, for example Thatcher.
.It is very much an issue of the individual’s ‘style’- the PM may act like a president, but that does not make them one constitutionally.
.Events and other factors cause variations in dominance- certain PMs may be more presidential than others.
