3.2 the concept of ministerial responsibility Flashcards
collective ministerial responsibility
defintion
- ministers are collectively responsible for all government policies
- ministers must publicly support government policy
- cabinet meetings and documents are secret. Dissent is concealed.
- if a minister dissents they must resign, if they don’t, they will be dismised
- if the administration is defeated on a vote of confidence, all members of the government must resign
collective ministerial responsibility
October 2020 Theresa May example
- 13 frontbenchers including 4 ministers defied Theresa May when they abstained on an amended government motion ruling out a no-deal Brexit in all circumstances.
- Although only one MP Sarah Newton actually resigned
collective ministerial responsibility
2003 Robin Cook
- resigned over its preparations for war against Iraq
- convinced Saddamm Hussein was a threat to the national interests.
- Tony Blair still won a third general election in 2005
collective ministerial responsibility
Boris Johnson 2018
- resigned when he could not support Chequers would be the basis for an EU withdrawal agreement.
collective ministerial responsibility
Rishi Sunak 2022
- chief whip Chris Pincher resigned over allegations he had sexually assulted 2 men
- when it was clear Johnson was aware of previous complaints, Sunak and Javid resigned within minutes of eachother.
- Johnson announced his resignation 2 days later
examples of breaking the rules of ministerial responsibility
John Major
- didn’t trust several eurosceptic members in his cabinet, who he (rightly) believed were breifing the press against him secretly
- he was caught talking to the men and to journalist Michael Brunson, but did not resign
examples of breaking the rules of ministerial responsibility
Vince Cable 2010-2015
- Cable crticisied his conservative collegues and George Osbornes cuts in public spending in his autumn budget, but didn’t resign
examples of breaking the rules of ministerial responsibility
Boris Johnson 2018
- criticised the hostility of the governments developing EU policy
- May preferred a partnership of with the EU
- he told the Daily Mail the policy was ‘totally untried’
- May refused to sack him because she didn’t want a cabinet full of ‘yes men’
PM accepting a lack of ministerial responsibility
what does this mean
- the PM will sometimes acknowledge it’s impossible to maintain responsibility, and allow the cabinet to openly speak against eachother
PM accepting a lack of ministerial responsibility
Examples
- 1975 membership of the EEC… Wilson allowed members to campaign in favour or against membership, Tony Benn and Roy Jenkins publicly debated over the matter
individual ministerial responsibility
what does it mean?
- ministers are accountable for decisions made by their department
- if a minister makes a serious error of judgement and their conduct falls below the expected standard they must resign
- but this has altered in recent years..
individual ministerial responsibility
Gavin WIlliamson
- Minister of Education 2020 during extremely low a level grades, but did not resign
- there was initially an algorithm to predict a level and gcse grades due to the pandemic, and centre assessments.
- many many people didnt get the grades required for university, Williamson then abandoned the algorithm and gave pupils grades purely from their centre assessment.
individual ministerial responsibility
Kwasi Kwarteng 2022
- chancellor under Liz Truss
- resigned in 2022
- crashed markets
individual ministerial responsibility
what did Johnson do to the ministerial code?
- changed it to remove the need to resign
- rather ministers can apologise or temporarily lose pay for breaches
- he himself was found guilty of doing this by the committees
Administrative failure
only example of administrative failure
1954
- Sir Thomas Dugdale: resigned as minister of Agriculture over the Crichel down affair where he didn’t return land to the owner that had been used as a bombing range before WWII
- Dugdale resigned
Policy failure
2002 Education Secretary example Estelle Morris
- Education secretary example under Tony Blair
- resinged and took responsibility for policy failure over inappropriate A Level Grades
scandal
2017 Priti Patel
international development secretary
- series of unofficial meetings she’d had with israeli ministers including PM Benjamin Netenyahu
- her failure to report these meetings violated the ministerial code requirement
scandal
2022 Suella Braverman
Home Secretary
- sent an official document to a colleague while using her personal email
- she then criticsed PM Lizz Truss expressing her ‘concerns about the direction of this government’
- she was reappointed by Sunak as home secretary on 25th October
scandal
2022 Gavin Williamson
Minister of State (without portfolio)
- chief whip Wendy Morton complained he had bullied her for not inviting him to the funeral of queen elizabeth
- allegations of bullying against other civil servants surfaced
- resigned on 8 November
scandal
Suella Braverman 2024
- sent government documetns to private email 127 times while she was attorney general
- followed a freedom of information campaign by the Times.
