the prime minister and executive Flashcards
executive
The executive, also called the government, is formed of the prime minister, members of cabinet and junior ministers.
prime minister
prime minister- head of executive, holds final decisionmaking power, expected to lead executive by determining gov policy, making decision on national issues
cabinet
formed by prime minister and senior ministers, who were appointed by prime minister
senior ministers in cabinet lead gov departments, consult pm on formulating policy
cabinet meets weekly to discuss goverment issues
22 cabinet ministers under sunak as of oct 2022- james cleverly secretary of state for foreign and commonwealth affair
junior ministers
appointed by ministers, have key roles in government departments, key roles under cabinet ministers to then report to them - 97 junior minsters
gov department
department on an area of policy executive pursues, theyre run by secretary of state- include ministers and civil servants
civil servants- permanent staff members in government who support current government in carrying out its policies
roles of executive- legislation proposals
proposes legislation to be passed in parliament
sets out legislative agenda
e.g. policies in election manifesto
gov departments develop legislation proposals
cabinet ministers agree on which legislation they want as part of legislative programme
proposals known as bills outlined in kings speech, before lawmaking process starts in parliament
e.g. gov proposed smart meters bill to parliament in 2017
roles of executive- budget
proposed to parliament by executive in budget statement- takes place in march/ april each year
chancellor outlines executives proposed changes to taxation and state of nations economy
budget is way gov raises funds, has approval from parliament on how to spend the money
following chancellors speech, budget is debated by parliament, then enters law making process in parliament
e.g. 2017 budget under chancellor phillip hammond outlined policies e,g, increasinf national living wage for workers from 7.50 to 7.83
roles of executive- policy decisions
executive implements laws passed by parliament in practice
makes policy decision determining how country is ran,how public money should be spent, public services delivered, taxes set
2012, conservative government cut tax ratefor those earning over 150,00 from 50% of income to 45% income
powers of executive - royal prerogative
monarchs power exercised by prime minister or cabinet
relate to judicial system- legal pardons, reducing offenders sentence length
executive has these to deploy army, grant honours, use prerogative emergency powers so they can act decisively during times of emergency
powers of executive- royal prerogative examples
2018 pm theresa may, sent british fighter jets to carry out air strikes in reposne to syria on their regime’s use of chemical weapon without parliamentary approval
2018 pm, may appoints new members to house of lords,former conservative minister eric pickles
after london bridge terror act, and explosion on train tube in 2017, may used prerogative emergency power to raise uk terror threat level to critical
powers of executive- initiating legislation
executive has power to enact policies in its manifesto which can be made into a law by parliament through parliamentary legislation
executive can initiate secondary legislation, can make changes to existing law under powers granted from existing acts of parliament
secondary legislation lets executive to change law without a new bill needing to be pushed through parliament - provisions of original act allow changes to be made
ministers
either are cabinet minsiters who are head of cabinet departments
junior ministers work in area of gov department under a cabinet minister
individual ministerial responsibility
holds ministers resposnible for their actions, and departments actions
responsible for performance of their department, expected to resign after major failings in gov department work or conduct
ministers have to be competent, have to resign if work is not competent
they also have to take responsibility in own life, behave in approporiate manner
individual ministerial responsibility examples
amber rudd, previous home secretary, resigned 2018 after misleading home affairs select committee over her departments targets on deporting illegal immigrants
liam fox resigned in 2011 as defence secretary after bringing a close friend (adam werrity) to 18 foreign business trips with him despite having no official role
advantages of individual ministerial responsibility
strong standard of behaviour maintained by gov officials who are at top of public life
holds gov accountable for their behaviour to public
e.g. michael fallon, defence secretary resigned in 2017 after claims made against his sexual conduct
disadvantages of individual ministerial responsibility
fails when ministers choose not to resign and blame others in department for failings
2011 home secretary theresa may did not resing over weakened border checks which allows terror suspects and foreign criminals into uk- instead blaming brodie clark- head of uk border force at the time
collective minsiterial responsibility
Collective ministerial responsibility is a convention that cabinet members must publicly support the decisions made by the cabinet.
if ministers fail to publicly support cabinet policies must resign from government
e.g. 2018 boris johnson, resigned as foreign secretary- he disagreed with gov’s chequers deal for leaving european union
advantage of collective ministerial reponsibility
ensures government appears united
and ministers support all government members
ensures strong government,government has clear official position on policies
e,g 2013 lib dems sided with conservative minsters in opposion mansion tax, which they did previously support- showed strong coalition government
disadvantage of collective ministerial responsibility
ministers have to defend policy they do not agree with, policies can be forced upon them by prime minister
member of tony blair’s government not asked for their approval on invading iraq in 2003 until 3days before invasion, cabinet ministers claimed they were forced to agree to war
relaxing collective ministerial responsibility
in cases when a prime minister may want to keep a politician in cabinet but know they cant support a particular issue, they may relax collective ministerial responsibility
e.g. david cameron relaxed collective ministerial responsibility during eu referendum, gives ministers choice to campaign for staying/ leaving eu
summary of role of prime minister
The prime minister has many roles including as head of the government and their party, national policy maker, government’s main spokesperson, key national decision maker, foreign policymaker and head of the armed forces.
role of pm as government head
responsible for work of all government department
as gov head- pm created new departments and gov roles, chairs cabinet meetings, decides who is on cabinet committees,, head of civil service
pm responsible for government policy agenda, sets national policy
decides which policy should be priority for government
role of pm as being party head
pm political party leader- elected by party members and party mps to position
as party leader, pm has to keep party united, successfully lead party in elections, decide party policy, speak at party conference to party members
role of pm as being decision maker
pm makes key decisions in uk’s national security interests often in times of crisis
pm chairs national security councils weekly meetings, considers uks most important national security issues
pm responds to national and internation security crises which affect uk
2017 may chaired a cobra committee following attempted terror attack on london underground train
role of pm- international leadership
pm is commander in chief. decides whether or not to deploy british armed forces to any foreign intervention of war
pm involved in overseas engagement, attended internaitonal conferences, visits other countries meeeting state leaders to make international polciy
e.g. may pm in 2017, visited over 30 countires
2015- david cameron attended cop21 conference, negotiate paris agreement on reducing climate change
role of pm in parliament
pm leads parliamentas head of house of commons largest party, as leader of largest party: leads debates and parliamentary questioning
pm organises party’s majority in parliament to ensureparliament will pass government policy into law
