Chapter 3 Prime Minister and Executive

Question 1

3.1 What is the Prime Minister

Answer 1

• Head of the executive, who chairs the cabinet and manages its agenda
• Appoints all members of the cabinet and junior ministers
• Decides who sits on cabinet committees
• Organises the structure of the government (can create, abolish or merge departments)

Question 2

What is the cabinet?

Answer 2

• group of senior ministers, chaired by the Prime Minister, which is the main collective decision-making body in the government
• Consists of 20-23 ministers

Question 3

What are government departments?

Answer 3

• Specific responsibility over an area
• Each responsible for an area of policy
• Each headed by the cabinet minister
• Supported by several junior ministers

Question 4

What are the main roles of the Executive?

Answer 4

Proposing Legislation, Proposing the Budget and Policy Making

Question 5

Explain the role of Proposing legislation?

Answer 5

• The executive introduces proposals for new laws or amendments to existing laws
• It announces a new programme at the start of each parliamentary session, in the king/queen’s speech
• e.g May 2015 speech, reflected the priorities of the Conservative government under David Cameron> legislation to protect essential public services against strikes

Question 6

What is the role of Proposing the Budget?

Answer 6

• The government needs to raise revenue
• This is to fund public services and to meet its spending priorities
• The budget is created by the chancellor of exchequer, in consultant with the prime minister
• It is revealed to the rest of the cabinet before it is delivered
• budget= annual statement of governments plans for changes to taxation and public spending
• If a new government comes into power after a general election, it introduces its own budget

Question 7

What is the role of Policy Making?

Answer 7

• The executive has to decide how to give effect to its aims for the future direction of the country
• E.g policy decisions taken by the 2010 coalition government included putting GPs in control for the commissioning of care for patients

Question 8

What are the Main powers of the Executive

Answer 8

Royal Prerogative Powers, Initiation of Legislation and Secondary Legislation

Question 9

Royal Prerogative Powers?

Answer 9

• Powers that historically belonged to the crown, but over which over time have been transferred to the prime minister
• Many of these are not properly defined
  e.g declaring war and authorising the use of armed forces, grant and withdraw passport
  e.g 2015, Cameron Authorised the use of drone strikes in Syria in spite of a parliamentary vote against military intervention in Syria, just two years earlier

Question 10

Initiation of Legislation

Answer 10

• Defined power to propose a new bill
• The executive controls the parliamentary time for legislation
• Most important bills go to the house of commons

Question 11

Secondary Legislation

Answer 11

• Powers given to the executive by parliament, to make certain changes to the law, without certain specific rules
• A law made without passing a new act of parliament
• Instead the government uses powers created by earlier acts

Question 12

3.2 What is Individual Ministerial Responsibility?
Give an Example?

Answer 12

• The principle by which ministers are responsible for their personal conduct and for their department
• Ministers are obliged to give accurate information to parliament
  If they knowingly mislead parliament, they are to resign
• e.g Amber Rudd, the previous home secretary, resigned in 2018 after she misled the Home Affairs Select Committee over her department’s targets for deporting illegal immigrants.

Question 13

What is Collective Ministerial Responsibility?

Answer 13

• A principle that ministers must support all decisions of the government in public
• Discussions in cabinet should be kept confidential
• The practice is designed to maintain the unity of government in the face of attacks from opposition
• e.g Robin Cook and Clare Short (Labour) resigned as they could not support government policy on invading Iraq (2003)

Question 14

Exceptions to CMR?

Answer 14

• collective responsibility has been modified for political reasons
• E.g to find a compromise between the conservatives and Lib dems to form a coalition government in 2010

Question 15

3.3 What factors influence a PM and their appointing decisions?

Answer 15

Importance of including individuals with ability and experience
> There is not always a pool of unlimited talented in parliament
> General ability as an administrator and communicator is more important than detailed knowledge of a particular policy area
Appointing allies

Question 16

What is the relationship between Cabinet and PM?

Answer 16

• The cabinet is formally responsible for policy making
• In recent times decisions have been made elsewhere
• Some believe this is as a result of the rise of presidential government
• Presidential government is the idea that leadership is becoming more personalised
• PMs are less dependant on traditional institutions such as the cabinet

Question 17

What are the factors that affect the relationship?

Answer 17

• Management skills of the PM
• the PM’s ability to set the agenda
• the use of cabinet committees and informal groups to make decisions
• the development of the PM’s office and Cabinet’s office
• the impact of wider political and economic situation

Question 18

Management skills of the PM?

Answer 18

• A determined PM will exploit the elastic nature of the office to assert the control over the cabinet
• The power should be deployed with care

Question 19

The PM’s ability to set the Agenda?

Answer 19

• Decisions taken in the cabinet are done so by holding a vote
• The view’s of senior figures will usually command more weight
• Tradition for the PM to chair the meeting and sum up at the end, is an important sort of influence

Question 20

The use of cabinet committees and informal groups to make decisions?

Answer 20

• PMs have made an increasing use of cabinet committees to make decisions
• By choosing who is in the committees , and taking chair of the most important ones, the PM can exercise a certain degree of control
• Many decisions are taken in smaller informal groups

Question 21

The development of the PM’s office and the cabinet office?

Answer 21

• The PM has more access to resources than other ministers
• e.g Under Blair there was close co-operation between the PM office and cabinet office
• This was to support the coordination and implementation of policy

Question 22

The impact of wider political and economic situations

Answer 22

• PM dominating the cabinet is affected by a variety of external pressures
• A PM with a large parliamentary majority and united party e.g Blair 1997, will find it easier to gain ascendancy
• Popularity with public, booming economy and ability to master events than appear a victim, provides strength in dealing with the cabinet

Question 23

The impact of wider political and economic situations?

Answer 23

• The extent to which the PM can dominate the cabinet is affected by a variety of external pressures
• A PM with a large parliamentary majority and united party e.g Blair 1997, will find it easier to gain ascendancy
• Popularity with public, booming economy and ability to master events than appear a victim, provides strength in dealing with the cabinet

Question 24

Reasons for the Cabinet remaining an Independent body

Answer 24

1) The cabinet approves government decisions, so confers legitimacy on them in the eyes of parliament and the public. A minister who cannot accept the agreed line should resign e.g Robin cook over Iraq war

2) On important issues, the PM recognises the need for the cabinet e.g important times of national conflict

3) The cabinet is where the programme of business in parliament is discussed

4) The UK does not have a presidential system

Question 25

Reasons the PM is the dominant force in the government

Answer 25

1) Appointment reshuffling and dismissal of government ministers

2) manages the cabinet e.g chairing meetings

3) responsibility for the overall shape and structure of the government

4) providing national leadership and representing the country in international affairs

Question 26

Case Study: Tony Blair

Answer 26

• Blair was a strong contrast with John Major in terms of governing style
• E.g He told the commons in April 1993 “I lead my party, he follows his”
• Blair for a time was extremely popular with a mandate to make significant policy changes
• However, after he took Britain into the controversial Iraq war in 2003 he began to lose credibility