3. prime minister and the executive

Question 1

the uk executive

Answer 1

• executive is another term for government
• in the british system of parliamentary democracy, the members of the government sit within the legislature and are accountable to it (fusion of powers)
• the most important elements of the executive are the prime minister and the cabinet
• the cabinet comprises the heads of the department of state such as the home secretary and foreign secretary as well as the chief whip
• in addition to this, more junior ministers are also members of the government although they don’t generally attend cabinet
• the executive is the branch of government concerned with the formulation and implementation of policy
• it is the heart of the government, providing both the ‘high politics’ of national leadership and the mundane day to day administration of government

Question 2

members of the executive

Answer 2

• prime minister (rishi sunak)
• cabinet
• ministers
• government departments

Question 3

members of the core executive

Answer 3

• prime minister
• cabinet
• cabinet committees
• senior civil servant and top SPADs (special adviser)

Question 4

the core executive

Answer 4

• comprises of the ministers, senior civil servants and political advisers whom the prime minister freely confides in when developing policy (they are not voted in)
• they are considered the most important elements of government

Question 5

civil servants and SPADs

Answer 5

• the executive is also served by senior servants who run the administration of the departments of state and implement government policies
• the most important of these is the chief secretary to the cabinet, the country’s most senior civil servant who provides impartial guidance to the prime minister and taking the minutes of the cabinet meetings
• the prime minster will take advice from key political advisers who work for them in institutions such as the cabinet office and the policy unit at 10 Downing Street
• it is their job to advise the government on the development of policy ideas and initiatives

Question 6

civil servants

Answer 6

• government departments are staffed by civil servants (officials that are appointed by the crown)
• some civil servants provide policy advice to ministers and in doing so, they may have advantages over minsters such as experience, expertise and access to information
• civil servants are required to provide impartial advice but can define which policy options are practicable and affordable
• civil servants should operate according to 4 principles: impartiality, anonymity, permanence and meritocracy

Question 7

SPADs

Answer 7

• ministers employ special advisers to carry out policy advice or media liaison roles, the latter being known as spin doctors
• special advisers are political appointments employed as temporary civil servants
• in 2015, there were 93 special advisers across government, more than double the amount employed in the early 1990s
• in 2021, there was 133 SPADs, cost total of £11.9 million to the taxpayer

Question 8

policy decisions (how they govern)

Answer 8

• it introduces into parliament proposals for new legislation based on the manifesto that it fought the general election on
• these comprise of the queen’s speech, which is delivered at the state opening of each new parliament to both the commons and the lords

Question 9

proposing legislation (how they govern)

Answer 9

• it introduces legislation into parliament in response to changing circumstances
• this is known as ‘the doctor’s mandate’ and the queen’s speech always makes reference to this with the sentence ‘other measure will be laid before you’

Question 10

proposing a budget (how they govern)

Answer 10

• it introduces a budget which will determine how the government proposes to raise revenue
• this will be presented to parliament in the autumn and will have been drawn up by the chancellor of the exchequer in negotiation with the PM

Question 11

secondary legislation (how they govern)

Answer 11

• it can introduce secondary or delegated legislation
• this means that when legislation has already been passed by parliament, it can be modified by the government without the need for primary legislation
• statutory instruments sometimes known as Henry VIII clauses are used to make these changes and have been criticised for being undemocratic as they seek to bypass full parliamentary scrutiny and debate
• in 2016, statutory instruments were deployed to abolish maintenance grants for university students and to allow fracking to take place in national parks

Question 12

elective dictatorship

Answer 12

the view that the prime minister dominates the executive and is effectively a dictator who has acquired power indirectly from the election of their party

Question 13

the main powers of the executive

Answer 13

• royal prerogative powers
• secondary legislative powers
• initiation of legislation

Question 14

prerogative powers

Answer 14

• these are powers exercised by ministers that do not require parliamentary approval
• they are collectively known as the royal prerogative powers and date from the time when the monarch has direct involvement in the government
• the monarch still has some personal prerogative power, including the appointment of the prime minister and giving royal assent to legislation

Question 15

most prerogative powers are excercise by ministers acting on behalf of the crown and these include

Answer 15

• making and ratifying treaties
• international diplomacy, including recognition and relations with other states
• deployment of armed forces over seas
• the prime minister’s patronage powers and ability to recommend the dissolution of parliament
• the organisation of the civil service
• the granting of pardons

Question 16

prerogative powers over time

Answer 16

• some prerogative powers change over time, some of which have been clarified and limited in recent years
• it has become constitutional convention that parliament votes on deployment of the armed forces over seas
• parliament voted against air strikes on Syria in 2013 and then gave its approval in 2015
• prior to the fixed term parliament act, (2011), the prime minister could ask the monarch to dissolve parliament and call an election at any time

Question 17

ministerial code

Answer 17

• neither convention nor law
• the ministerial code was first published in 1992 and formed part of the constitution
• it’s publication increased its importance as a set of rules for ministers
• the latest version was issued by David Cameron
• in 2006, Blair announced that he had appointed the controller and auditor general, sir John bourn, to act as independent advisor on ministerial interests
• his role was to give confidential advice on request from ministers and to conduct investigations at the request of the pm
• in 2007, Gordon brown, announced that he had appointed the parliamentary commissioner for standards, as independent advisor and he has the duty to investigate allegations of breaches of the code at the instigation of the pm
• most recently, there has been controversy over the decision of the pm not to refer Jeremy hunt to the independent advisor
• the pm has referred to stronger guidance for special advisors and ministers on quasi-judicial decisions in his evidence to the leveson inquiry on 14 June 2012

Question 18

individual responsibility

Answer 18

a convention which states that ministers must:
- accept the responsibility for the actions of their department
- behave appropriately in their personal life
- be comptent

Question 19

collective responsibility

Answer 19

• regarded as one of the corner stones of cabinet government in the uk
• the convention states that any member of government (including junior ministers) must publically support and promote government policy
• there may be disagreement in private but everyone must agree in public
• if a minister is unable to do this, they must resign from government
• the convention is needed to maintain a united public face in order to ensure confidence and public support are maintained for the government
• the coalition relaxed the convention of collective ministerial responsibility
• the coalition agreement set out a range of policies which both parties have adhered to
• the absence of notable resignations and the unity of the coalition government would tend to suggest that the convention of collective responsibility remained a significant force even in a coalition government

Question 20

the nolan principles/seven principles of public life

Answer 20

• defined by the committee for standards in public life
• in reference to individual ministerial responsibility
• selflessness: holders of public office should act solely in terms of the public interest, they should not do so in order to gain financial or other benefits for themselves,, their family or friends
• integrity: holders of public office should not place themselves under any financial or other obligation to outside individuals or organisations that might seek to influence them in the performance of their official duties
• objectivity: in carrying out public business, including making public appointments, awarding contracts, or recommending individuals for rewards and benefits, holders of public office should make choices on merit
• accountability: holders of public office are accountable for their decisions and actions to the public and must submit themselves to whatever scrutiny is appropriate to their office
• openness: holders of public office should be as open as possible about all the decisions and actions that they take; they should give reasons for their decisions and restrict information only when the wider public interest clearly demands it
• honesty: holders of public office have a duty to declare any private interests relating to their public duties and to take steps to resolve any conflicts arising in a way that protects public interest
• leadership: holders of public office should promote and support these principles by leadership and example

Question 21

Robin Cook (2003)

Answer 21

• resigned over going to war in Iraq
• the war didn’t have any international agreement or support
• by convention ministers resign by letter, not through parliament as he did
• the house then didn’t consult on this and the government had the prerogative power to go to war
• example of collective ministerial responsibility

Question 22

Micheal Heseltine (1986)

Answer 22

• the westland affair
• heseltine (secretary of state for defence) went public over a dispute between himself and thatcher
• the argument was over the future of Westland helicopters, Britain’s last helicopter manufacturers, which was subject to a rescue bid
• heseltine favoured the European solution
• thatcher and the trade and industry secretary, leon brittan, wanted to see Westland merge with Sikorsky, an american company
• brittan resigned shortly after heseltine due to the leaking of a document accusing heseltine of reporting inaccuracies about the affair
• collective ministerial responsibility

Question 23

when they don’t resign over collective responsibility

Answer 23

• collective responsibility can be suspended
• this type of agreement to differ within cabinet doesn’t happen often
• examples: in tariff reform in 1932 and three times over European membership (1975, 1977, 2016)
• leaks occur, it was reported in the independent that May had ordered a crackdown on unauthorised leaks by ministers and civil servants with a warning that culprits will face instant dismissal if they were caught
• current examples are provided weekly with reports of cabinet splits over brexit

Question 24

Andrew Mitchell

Answer 24

• ‘plebgate’
• example of individual responsibility
• he was the then chief whip of government and was accused of calling a police office a pleb
• and then had to resign

Question 25

doctrine of individual ministerial responsibility

Answer 25

• ministers are responsible for both their actions and those of their ministries
• it requires ministers to ensure that they and their ministries are free from waste, misconduct and dishonesty
• ministers are required to relinquish their posts if their wrongdoings are exposed

Question 26

the doctrine of collective ministerial responsibility

Answer 26

• ministers are required to provide public support and approval for cabinet decisions
• it permits full discussion and debate within the cabinet and strong unity/direction once a decision has been taken
• if ministers can’t support decisions made in cabinet they must resign
• if they refuse to resign, they can be sacked

Question 27

in 2022, the conservative government has the largest commons majority since 2001

Answer 27

the high turnover of ministers since 2017 has resulted in a relatively inexperienced cabinet, potentially limiting the ability of the government to function effectively and to deliver its election manifesto promises

Question 28

Boris Johnson

Answer 28

• collective responsibility
• july 2018
• as the then secretary of state for foreign and commonwealth affairs, resigned by citing that he could not in good conscience support the deal with the EU that was agreed by the PM
• three days after the cabinet had met to agree on a brexit strategy, Johnson resigned his cabinet post in opposition to the agreement

Question 29

Priti Patel

Answer 29

• individual responsibility
• november 2017
• as international development secretary, Patel held meetings and had contracts with Israeli pm without May’s authorisation
• and subsequently had to resign

Question 30

substantial powers of the pm

Answer 30

• the FPTP electoral system means that unlike may other states, ruling coalitions are largely avoided
• having a hereditary rather than elected head of state concentrates power on the pm, not the monarch
• the UK’s uncodified constitution means that the pm is freer to ‘make it up as they go along’ (eg Johnson declaring himself as minister for the union without being constrained by legal or statutory rules)
• the UK is a unitary not federal country, this focuses power on the pm rather than requiring it to be shared among states or provinces

Question 31

powers of the PM

Answer 31

• patronage
• authority in the cabinet system
• party leadership
• public standing
• policy making
• prime minster’s office

Question 32

powers of public standing

Answer 32

• high public profile
• communication in chief for the government
• political leaders in times of crisis
• represents country in international affairs

Question 33

constraints of public standing

Answer 33

• unpopularity with the electorate undermines authorities
• may become the focus of media criticism

Question 34

powers of policy making role

Answer 34

• directs government policy and sets the agenda
• authority to become involved in policy areas of choosing
• takes the key role in times of crisis

Question 35

constrains of the policy making role

Answer 35

• limited time and lack of detailed knowledge
• lacks the resources provided by a government department
• may be difficult to achieve policy success
• eg Cameron accused of causing chaos over energy policy after ministers appeared to state opposite energy policy in speech

Question 36

constraints of the prime minister’s office

Answer 36

• pm’s office has limited resources (eg staff and funding)
• power of other departments, especially the treasury

Question 37

powers of the prime minister’s office

Answer 37

• pm’s office provides advice and support
• better enables pm to direct policy and act as a communicator
• appoints special advisors can reorganise the structure of the government

Question 38

powers of patronage

Answer 38

• appoints ministers
• allocates cabinet posts
• reshuffles cabinet
• dismissal of ministers

Question 39

constraints of patronage

Answer 39

• claims of senior colleagues for inclusion and specific posts
• labour pm is required to appoint first cabinet from the shadow cabinet
• cabinet needs ideological balance
• unintended consequences of botched reshuffles = the possible of sacked ministers emerging for party leadership
• eg Cameron appointing lots of ministers to limit the number of backbench rebellions

Question 40

powers of authority in the cabinet system

Answer 40

• chairs cabinet meetings
• manages the cabinet agenda
• steers, sums up and determines the outcome of cabinet discussions
• holds bilateral and informal meetings with key ministers
• appoints chairs and members of cabinet committees
• restructure central government

Question 41

constraints of authority in the cabinet system

Answer 41

• requires cabinet support in major or controversial issues
• senior ministers have authority and may challenge the pm’s preferred policy
• problems may arise if senior ministers feel they are being ignored
• not involved in detailed policy making in the cabinet

Question 42

powers of party leadership

Answer 42

• authority as the leader of a political party
• elected by MPs and party members
• enjoys a majority in the House of Commons

Question 43

constraints of party leadership

Answer 43

• support of the party is not unconditional
• possibility of backbench rebellions
• eg rebel MPs force parliament debate on EU referendum through a PMB

Question 44

the decline of the north
(Thatcher’s impacts)

Answer 44

• the north suffered the worst of the deep recession and high unemployment of the early years and benefited the least from the eventual boom of the late 1980s
• privatisation was attempted but not viable, some mines were privately brought but the rest were closed, this mostly affected the north, creating widespread unemployment

Question 45

a diminished role for trade unions
(thatcher’s legacy)

Answer 45

• the decline in Britain’s manufacturing industry, which Thatcher’s government did little to reverse, destroyed the power bases of British trade unionism
• high unemployment and recession critically weakened the unions’ bargaining power in the early to mid 1980s
• since 1908, union membership has halved
• eg employment act (1980), restricted the unions’ ability to strike or picket
• eg employment act (1982), not unlawful to refuse trade union membership
• eg trade union act (1984), striking members not entitled to state benefits

Question 46

shattering the post war political consensus
(Thatcher’s legacy)

Answer 46

• Thatcher arrived in power armed with the free market philosophy of Ronald Reagan’s advisor, Milton Friedman, and a new style of politics was born
• unionists no longer took long lunches alongside politicians
  evidence
• at a meeting on 23rd July (1982), the cabinet considered a memorandum by Howe on tax expenditure
• a significant number of cabinet ministers expressed their disagreement
• the prime minister promised further discussion in the autumn but instead changed the composition of the cabinet significantly in the September reshuffle

Question 47

northern ireland peace process
(Thatcher’s legacy)

Answer 47

• among republicans in NI, Thatcher is loathed for her intransigence during the Maze prison hunger strike of 1981, which led to the death of Bobby Sands
• but four years later, she appalled unionists by signing the Anglo-Irish agreement, which gave the Republic of Ireland a say in the affairs of the north, paving the way of the good Friday agreement
• Anglo-Irish agreement (1985)
• the agreement broadly gave the Irish government an advisory role in the North’s government while at the same time confirming there would be no change in the constitutional position of the North until such time as there was a want for it amongst the majority of people there

Question 48

Brighton hotel bombing

Answer 48

• 12/10/1984
• the IRA bombed the hotel with the intention of killing Thatcher
• she lived but it killed 5 people, including a cabinet minister
• she continued with the conservative party meeting, making her seem strong

Question 49

education reforms
(Thatcher’s legacy)

Answer 49

• the choice agenda was created
• parents could, in theory but not always in practice, decide which school their child could go to
• education act (1988)
• widely regarded as the most important single piece of education legislation in England, Wales and NI
• it included the removal of tenure, limits in the definition of the word ‘degree’, grant maintained schools and parental choice

Question 50

inspiring a generation of eurosceptics
(Thatcher’s legacy)

Answer 50

• when the EEC began to develop far beyond the free trade agreement, Thatcher’s strident opposition to anything beyond a single market became a hallmark of her premiership
• in 1980, Thatcher called for the UK’s contributions to the then EEC to be adjusted, warning that otherwise she would withhold VAT payments
• ‘I want my money back!’
• the battle lasted four years and finally ended in a victory for Thatcher but damaged relations with other EC countries

Question 51

revolution in home ownership
(Thatcher’s legacy)

Answer 51

• council house tenants able to buy their property led to a rise in house prices, increased home ownership and less social housing
• housing act (1980)
• allowed council house tenants to buy their own homes, changed the face of home ownership in Britain

Question 52

a new prestige for the armed forces
(Thatcher’s legacy)

Answer 52

• winning the Falklands war in 1982 transformed Thatcher’s standing in the opinion polls
• fighting the war put the armed forces back on the centre stage for the first time since the Suez
• the Falklands revived the prestige of soldering, as huge crowds gathered to wave off and welcome home the troops in Portsmouth
• defence spending had been cut by the previous PM due to the problems with inflation
• spending initially rose under Thatcher but after the fall of the Berlin wall and the end of the Cold War, Thatcher scaled back spending again

Question 53

transforming television
(Thatcher’s legacy)

Answer 53

• Thatcher saw the BBC license fee as a tax imposed on television viewers irrespective of whether they wanted to watch BBC programmes or not
• as pm, she believed that a left wing bias permeated the BBC’s coverage and consequently created channel 4
• 1990 broadcasting act
• often regarded by both its supporters and its critics as a quintessential example of Thatcherism
• the aim of the act was to reform the entire structure of British broadcasting

Question 54

privatisation
(Thatcher’s legacy)

Answer 54

• in 1981, the then secretary of state for energy Nigel Lawson stated that no industry should remain under state ownership unless there is a positive and overwhelming case for doing so
• the gas act 1986
• the water act 1989
• electricity act 1989
• railways act 1993

Question 55

the Saatchi and Saatchi effect
(Thatcher’s legacy)

Answer 55

• Saatchi and Saatchi made history with a political poster that is probably the most effective ever produced
• it showed a dole queue snaking out from an employment office and disappearing into the distance
• the title read: ‘labour isn’t working’ and underneath, in smaller type, ‘Britain’s better off with the Tories’

Question 56

anti gay rights
(Thatcher’s legacy)

Answer 56

• she denounced local education authorities for teaching children that ‘they have an inalienable right to be gay’ and brought in the hated clause, then section 28 which outlawed the promotion of homosexuality as ‘a pretend family relationship’
• despite the fact that no one was prosecuted under it, the law made teachers feel they could not tell children if they were gay, it was ok

Question 57

human rights
(Blair’s legacy)

Answer 57

a number of factors led the labour party to incorporate the ECHR into British law;
- a desire to bring the British constitution into line with the rest of Europe
- increased in powers of the police and courts in 80s and 90s equals a major threat to our rights
- British government equals brought before the ECHR 50 times since 1966 and had lost most of those times which causes embarrassment
- new labour = active citizenship, the principle that citizens have responsibility for their communities, in return they needed guaranteed rights
- it was part of the devolution settlements that the new assemblies should be bound by the ECHR

Question 58

freedom of information
(Blair’s legacy)

Answer 58

• lack of being able to gain information, one of the areas where British constitution lagged behind the USA and Europe
• labour, supported by lib dems made firm commitments to remedy this
• if implemented in full would have led to an end of British culture of secrecy in government
• freedom of information act 2000
• gave the right for citizens to see information about themselves held by public bodies
• two strand: the first is a right given to citizens to see information about them held by public bodies (uncontroversial) and the second is the right to see into the documents held by government and its agencies
• the ability to supress information was to be limited while the media and parliament = much greater access to information, hopefully in theory leading to more open government

Question 59

devolution
(Blair’s legacy)

Answer 59

• the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level
• it is a form of administrative decentralisation
• devolved territories have the power to make legislation relevant to the area
• new labour felt local areas were best place to make decisions
• scotland act (1998)
• welsh national assembly established in 1999
• the devolution of power to NI has to be seen within the context of the good friday agreement (1998)

Question 60

house of lords
(Blair’s legacy)

Answer 60

• labour were increasingly frustrated when in opposition that the HoL supported conservative policy due to the number of conservative peers in the HoL
• they changed this when they got into power
• house of lords act
  (1999)
• removed all but 92 hereditary peers from the HoL, increasing the number of life peers who are appointed for their knowledge and expertise

Question 61

foreign policy
(Blair’s legacy)

Answer 61

• he was mostly remembered for Iraq, Blair’s passionate belief in intervention to save innocent lives did give foreign policy an ethical dimension
• after stopping violence in both Kosovo and Sierra Leone, made Blair increasing popular
• he was considered to be Europeanist (pro european cooperation and integration), liberalist (rejecting power relationships and promoting mutual benefits), interventionist (favouring intervention, especially by a government in its domestic economy or by one state on the affairs of another)

Question 62

immigration
(Blair’s legacy)

Answer 62

• Blair left behind an immigration system that has been fundamentally reshaped
• migration is now ‘managed’ to favour migrants coming for work and study

Question 63

judiciary
(Blair’s legacy)

Answer 63

• as the branch of government tasked with upholding the rule of law, it was felt that they should be separate from the other two branches
• the quasi separation of powers was provided for in the constitutional reform act (2005)
• the act of uk parliament that was divided into three parts
• the first reformed the office of the lord chancellor, the second created and set the framework for a uk supreme court and the third regulates the appointment of judges

Question 64

Blair - lost control with policy

Answer 64

• freedom of information act (2000)
• meant to be used to allow people to access their information held by state department
• instead, it was used by media to gain information against the government
• eg the expenses scandal (2009)

Question 65

Blair - has control with policy

Answer 65

• HoL reform
• reduced number of hereditary peers to 92
• reduced the conservative majority in the HoL

Question 66

Blair - lost control with events

Answer 66

• Iraq (2003), resignation from Robin Cook
• 149 MPs rebelled and did not vote for intervention in Iraq
• lost the popular vote and caused mass outcry from the public

Question 67

Blair - had control with events

Answer 67

applauded for intervention policy in Kosovo and Sierra Leone

Question 68

Thatcher - lost control with policy

Answer 68

• high unemployment in the north suffering from deep recession
• benefitted the least from eventual boom
• privatisation of coal mines lead to wide spread strikes

Question 69

Thatcher - had control with policy

Answer 69

• diminishing the role of trade unions
• since 1980, union membership has halved
• successful in restricting the unions’ power to strike and restricted influence

Question 70

Thatcher - lost control with events

Answer 70

• 12/10/84
• Brighton hotel bombing
• IRA bomb plot was supposed to kill Thatcher but killed 5 others, including a cabinet minister

Question 71

Thatcher - had control with events

Answer 71

• Falklands (1982)
• Thatcher responded to the invasion of the British island of the Falklands by the Argentinians by engaging the military force
• huge victory for Britain, regained control of the Falklands